Love Will Find Us: Once Upon A Time
by Duranchains
Summary: This is my very first story on fan fiction & with writing. Basically this story will be about how it takes many struggles for these two soul mates to realize that they are made for each other. Emma Swan and Regina Mills. Families will get in the way of there love. This is based on another show from a diff. culture (Geet Hui Sabse Parayi). Male Emma & male Ruby. Intros on chap1:)
1. Chapter 1

Love Will Find Us

Intro

Cora Mills is the mayor of Storybrooke and her husband Henry mills is the owner of the entire town. They have two daughters the older one named Zelena Mills and the younger one named Regina Mills. Zelena is married to Gold. They all live in a mansion and being the rich and powerful family in the town gains them respect from the town people.

Cora Mills like to have control over everything that relates to her and her family. While her husband Henry is open-minded person with a kind and soft heart. Most of the town people are afraid of Cora but they don't dare go against her.

Zelena Mills (23 yrs old) older sister of Regina Mills and first daughter of Cora and Henry and she works for her mother. She is also exactly like Cora and she never disobey her mother and likes to do things that will please her mother. She is married to Mr. Gold, who owns a pawnshop. She is jealous of Regina because their mother is pretty possessive of Regina and wants her younger daughter to be married into a wealthy family.

Regina Mills (20yrs old) second daughter of Cora and Henry. She is a kind and softhearted person like her father. She loves her parents very much but she also fears her mother because of that she does what ever her mother ask her to do.

(EMMA) will be a male, named Emmett Swan Nolan (24 years old) lives in New York. Runs the famous Nolan construction company, oldest son to Mary Margaret Nolan and David Nolan and older brother to, (ROBIN HOOD) will be named, Robin Nolan. Emmett will be shown as closed hearted person who had his heart broken by the girl he loved who betrayed him so he doesn't trust woman anymore specially when he thinks or feels that they are trying to manipulate him with their emotions.

Mary Margaret and David Nolan have retired from their company so they have passed it down to Emmett to run it.

(RED) will also be a male named Ruben. He will be Emmett's childhood best friend. Ruben's grandmother runs a famous restaurant in NY. Both of their families have a close relationship.

Belle- works in Emmett's company as a receptionist. Will be Regina's cousin. Belle is friends with Katherine who also work with her in Emmett's company. They are also roommates.

Chapter 1

The mansion of a house is pretty big with several rooms some occupied and some unoccupied but used as guest rooms for the guests whenever they have any. They have their personal maids and personal drivers. Regina's room is upstairs as well as Zelena and Gold's room is upstairs too while Henry and Cora has their master bedroom downstairs. The mansion also has a huge kitchen on the first floor with sitting room. Outside the mansion there is pool in the background while it's surrounded with decorative bushes and there is an apple tree at the middle in front of the mansion. There is also a green house.

It was 7 in the morning, when a door was opened and the blinds were opened to let the sunlight into the dark room. Footsteps were heard roaming around the room and were stopped at the corner of the bed, where someone was soundly sleeping.

"Regina" Cora said as she tried to wake up her daughter from the sleep. The body started to move little bit. "Regina wake up, its morning time already" spoke Cora again.

Just then Regina stated to get up from the bed and when she opened her brown eyes she was met with her mother staring at her.

"Good morning mother," said Regina. "Good morning Regina, did you sleep well my daughter?" asked Cora. "Yes mother" replied Regina.

"Good, now then you should go take a shower and get ready for today, there will be guests today that will arrive around 9 and I want you to look your best as possible" demanded Cora with stern voice.

After hearing that tone in her mothers voice Regina started to worry about these guests as to why they were coming to their house. And Regina knew well enough already that her mother have been looking for good settled man that will be suitable to marry her daughter. She knew she didn't wanted to get married yet but she couldn't go against her mother's wishes either. So she got up and replied, "Yes mother, I will be down shortly" after hearing that Cora left her room to go downstairs.

Regina then went to her bathroom to go take a shower and get ready for the long day ahead of her. 30 minutes later she was all done and ready wearing a most elegant, beautiful looking red dress that fit all her curves and showed off her shoulders_. "Why can't my mother understand that I do not want to marry to a man a I don't know anything about no matter how rich they are? Why cant she understand that I want to fall in love with the person choose to see fit?"_ she sobbed out at her reflection in the mirror, wishing and praying in her heart for someone to hear her thoughts and desperation.

Just then she heard a knock on her door " Lady Regina" said one of their maids "your mother is expecting you in 15 minutes" spoke the maid again. "Thank you Sarah, I will be downstairs in about those minutes," replied Regina. Then she heard footsteps descending downstairs. Right after 15 minutes were up, Regina was coming down from her room into the living room where everyone was sitting around on the leather-clad sofas.

"Good morning everyone" Regina says softly to everyone. They all reply her with a good morning as well.

As soon as Regina sits down next to her sister " It seems mother has finally found a right man for you Regina" says Zelena in a taunting way. When Regina looks up to her mother it conforms her fears from while ago.

Regina tries to protests " but mother-" but Cora interrupts her by saying " Regina, the guests that are arriving today will include your future husband with his sister in law, I expect you to honor my wishes by marrying this man. He is very handsome, educated and rich man with a good family honor."

All Regina could do was say "yes mother" to her mothers demands. As she looked up to her fathers face she could see his inability to go against his wife and she could hear her sisters sneer towards her.

"You should considered yourself lucky dear sister that you are getting married into a wealthy family" says Zelena with jealously. And Regina could sense it and she knows she will never be able to make her sister love her the way she loves her sister.

"Yes you should, dearie," agrees Gold.

All Regina could do was nod she felt so hopeless and trapped with this newfound turn of events in her life. She was hoping if only she could find a way to avoid this situation but she knew better than that she possibly couldn't.

"Madam mayor" one of their maid says " it seems like our guests are little bit early in their arrival" they all hear her say.

"Thank you Laura, would you be so kind to show them their way to our living room?" asks Cora. "Yes Madam mayor" replies Laura as she leaves to attend the guests.

"Regina, the guests that are coming are from New York, the man you will be meeting is named Robin Nolan with his sister in law, Marian Nolan. It seems his parents are out of the country at the moment and it is his older brother who is the head of their architecture company and Ruben is partnered with his brother in the company so they share equal assets. I have learned all about them that I needed to know through resources and agreed to meet with him today so, I would like for you get along with him and learn about each other." Cora explains.

"Yes mother!" is all Regina could say.

"Madam mayor the guests are here," informs Laura.

When Regina looks towards the entrance of the living room she sees a man whose tall, handsome, good looking and have a nice figure, wearing a gray suit with a red tie; standing next to him is a woman little shorter than him reaching him right bout his shoulders, wearing a tight black dress with open brunette hair flowing around her shoulders with a little purse in one of her hands.

When she catches the mans eyes; she gets lost in the greenish eyes of his but snaps out of her trance when she hears her mother say her name with a stern voice " Regina!" that's when she notices that everyone has gathered around them and that she's the only one standing far away from the group.

"I am very sorry for my rude behavior; my name is Regina Mills" introduces Regina herself to the two people.

As Regina offers her hand to Robin and he says "Its lovely to meet you Miss Regina; you may call me Robin and this here next to me is, Marian Nolan, my sister in law" and kisses the back of her hand, then looks towards Marian.

"Its nice to meet you both as well Mr. Robin and Marian" replies Regina as she feels her self getting lost by again looking into his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As the introductions were done, they all sat around the living room area. As the discussion were going on Regina started to think to herself for what her future was going to be from now on. She knew nothing she would do help her out of this arranged marriage her mother has put into. As she observed Robin, she how he talked so professionally to her mother, just the way her mother would approve of. She couldn't find anything wrong with the guy; he was a businessman, handsome, and very respectful. While she was dazed out from the whole conversation, she felt a pinch from her sister on her arm and she glared to her.

"Mother's been trying to gain your attention, Regina", said Zelena with a smirk on her face.

"Regina dear?" said Cora in a stern voice.

"Yes Mother", said Regina while nervous.

"I would like you to accompany Mr. Robin alone for a little so, you get to know your future husband", explained Cora.

"Of course mother", said Regina. She wasn't shocked to know that her mother didn't ask for her approval for the marriage and she knew she couldn't protest anyways so it was pointless to voice her thoughts on the matter.

As her and Robin walked up to the rooftop, both didn't say anything to each other until they reached the rooftop and sat opposite of each other on one of the table set.

It was Robin who spoke first, " I know your mother didn't ask for your approval but I do want to make sure if you want to marry me or no an d I hope you would give an honest answer, Regina."

She looked up at him and into his eyes and saw how sincere he was being towards her, she didn't know if she should be honest or not. She knew even if she was to say no her mother wouldn't care and she would end up marrying Robin. But one thing was clear, at least he was considering about her on this matter compare to her mother, who didn't care at all of what she thought.

"I appreciate your concern Mr. Robin, but you need not to worry about myself, I have know about this arrangement before you arrived and whole heartily agree with what my mother approves of", she made it sound so sure that even Robin couldn't tell if she was being honest as he looked at her.

"Yes of course you knew, I just wanted to make sure. And please call me Robin there are no need for formalities since we are going to be wedded soon", he replied.

Regina only nodded. She didn't know what to do or say after that. She felt so awkward, so right when she started to think of something to talk about, Zelena interrupted them by letting them know that their presence was needed downstairs in the living room.

As both of them got up to move towards the stairs, they accidently bumped into each other. This action made Regina lose her footing and soon she was falling down to the floor but before she could hit the floor, two arms circled around her waist to prevent her fall. When she opened her eyes she was staring deep into greenish eyes of her future husband. They kept on staring until Regina remembered that her mother would be furious if they don't get a move on. So she slowly moved out of Robin's strong arms.

Soon they both were inside the living room sitting next to each other while the others were sitting around them.

"Mrs. Nolan and me has decided to do the engagement ceremony today in the evening, is that fine with you Mr. Robin", Cora asked while looking at the couple.

Robin and Regina looked at each other after hearing this. Regina then looked up to see her mother glaring at her so she looked back to Robin and conformed with her eyes that she was fine with this arrangement and that's when Robin nodded his approval to everyone. It warmed her heart to know that the man who she was going to spend her life with cared about how she felt about everything because of this Regina's fear started to fade a little over this whole ordeal.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

While there was still time for the engagement ceremony, which Cora decided to leave until evening time. As for Robin and Marian, they were staying in separate guest rooms upstairs close to Regina's room.

There was a knock onto Robin's door, as opened the door he saw it Marian on the other side. He let her in and closed the door behind after he made sure no one was around his room.

"It looks like you have taken quite liking to Regina for a first meeting and things are progressing quickly then we thought" said Marian all amused with everything that has happened.

Marian sat on the bed making herself comfortable and looks up at Robin who had a worried expression on his face. "What's wrong darling?" asked Marian as she got up to stand in front of Robin.

"Nothing in particular just thinking if what we are doing is acceptable!" sighed Robin.

"You do realize that we need this to happen in order for us to get what we want!" exclaimed Marian in a frustrated voice. She knew Robin still had hard time doing something like this but she couldn't get him to understand that they didn't have any other options.

" I have merely given you this option for correcting your mistakes, and don't you dare let me down this time Robin. We need this marriage to happen in order for us to pay our debts that we owe to your brother so, we can live our peaceful life again like before everything happened." explained Marian while looking at him.

"I know, I know! But couldn't there be any other way, this family believes that I am the second partner to my parent's company", Robin spoke while looking back at her.

"Which you are Robin. There is not doubt about it, and after this whole situation we will prove this to your brother that you also deserve a place in the company that your parents built and for that we have to do this and I know its not something to be proud of but we have so little time to have all the money we need to pay off", Marian rationalized.

"But Marian, what about Regina? What are we going to do about her? She seems like a such a nice person, we can't hurt her like this" asked Robin.

"It doesn't matter we are going to do what I planned to do, Robin. Oh and please be prepared for the evening occasion and keep charming our mayors little princess, Regina." said Marian in an irritated voice.

Without listening to his reply Marian walked out of the room leaving Robin all to himself to get ready for what was about to happen in few hours.

It was almost evening time, so Cora decided to gather everyone. All of the town people were gather in their mansion and it seems to fit everyone since it was little amount of people that showed. Some were afraid or quite likely didn't like Cora much so they didn't show up. Cora tried to gain everyone's attention that was present.

"Hello everyone, thank you for showing for this wonderful occasion and as most of you know today my youngest daughter, Regina, will be getting engaged to Mr. Robin Nolan" she finished saying while looking at everyone with a smile on her face.

Everyone clapped there hands some even cheered but most of it looked so fake and unreal that it confused Ruben and Marian but they let it slide. The family members didn't real change into anything specific, everyone was into wearing the same outfits from this morning.

Now it was time for the engagement that Robin and Regina were waiting for all day. As they were standing next to each other, they looked into each other's eyes. Robin noticed how the worry in Regina's eyes he managed to notice before was gone and replaced with hopeful eyes and it made everything more badly for him. He slowly put the ring onto Regina's ring finger and heard everyone clap. Then he slowly moved up his hand to Regina so she could put the ring on his ring finger, which she did while smiling up at him. And that's when everyone along with the family members cheered for them. From the corner of his eyes he saw Marian smile her devilish smile to him and he couldn't help but feel guilty for what he had begun.

After the engagement ceremony everyone was in the dining area: eating. That's when Robin spotted Marian talking with Zelena and Gold. He walked up to her and excused her from Zelena and Gold, while dragging her up his room by her arm. As they went inside his room Marian snatched free her arm from his grip and yelled "What's wrong with you, Robin?"

"I am sorry!" he apologized and Marian nodded to say it was okay. "I am still not okay with all of this and it's taking a toll on me."

"I know how you feel darling but don't you let these emotions control you when its clear that you absolutely need to marry Regina," emphasized Marian.

This triggered something in Robin and he understood there really isn't any other way, "I know and I will", he spoke with determination while looking into Marian's eyes.

The celebration was going smoothly. But Regina couldn't find her fiancé anywhere as she roomed her eyes around. That's when she heard a voice behind her speak.

"Looking for Robin, dear" she turned around noticed it was her mother. Cora walked up to her daughter and led her into a corner from anyone eavesdropping in their conversation.

"Mother, I was just trying see where Robin went after the ring ceremony" Regina said with fear that she might have upset her mother.

"Regina Dear, I have been observing you all day and I have noticed you have taken a liking to him. Which is great and I hope it stays that way because I do not wish to see this getting ruined from your carelessness," demanded Cora. Then she pointed towards the living room " Robin and Marian just went to his room a while ago and you may go check up on them and bring them back to the party" Cora finished as she left Regina to do what she asked.

Regina did what she was told and was now standing in front of Robin's door. She could hear talking from inside and was debating if she should knock or not but later decided to knock. After few knocks the door opened and Marian greeted Regina. As she stepped inside the room while Marian closed the door, she noticed Robin standing up from the bed and walking up to her.

"Regina, what brings you to my room? Is something wrong?" he asked with worry, which didn't go unnoticed by Marian or Regina.

"Nothing is wrong, I was just merely looking for you to see if you were enjoying yourself in the party but couldn't find you there so heard that you were in your room with your sister in law" told Regina.

Robin stepped back a few feet and looked at Marian who had a angry expression on her face that's when Robin spoke "Marian, could you please give us a minute?"

Marian hesitated at first and turned to leave the room but not before glaring daggers at Regina. As the shutting of the door was heard Regina looked at Robin who was looking back at her, which caused Regina to turn away and blush.

Robin seeing this spoke again, "I am sorry I left you out there alone. I'll make sure to not let it happen again." He walked up to Regina and she noticed his presence was to close to her and that's when his strong arms engulfed her into a hug, which she reciprocated back. Robin feeling her arms around him smirked to himself, knowing fully well that there won't be any problems in their plans.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Their embrace was interpreted by ringing of a cell phone. It was ringing from a table beside them; they broke from their hug feeling shy and nervous about the whole situation. Both didn't know what to say to each other thats when the phone started ringing again, that's when Robin decided to pick up his phone.

"Hello, Robin speaking" he said into his phone. After hearing the voice from the other side Robin's faces lost all of its color so he put the phone on hold and looked at Regina.

"I need to take this call, could you please go downstairs without me, I will be there when I am done talking" he said while keeping control over his voice. Regina walked out of the room feeling all confused and scared. The nervous look in Robin's eyes didn't go unnoticed by her even thought he tried to hide it. As she went down the stairs she looked around and saw Marian talking to her mother. She decided to walk towards them and see what they were talking about.

"Have you guys taught about when the marriage will take place?" Regina heard her mother ask Marian. Right when Marian decided to answer she looked towards Regina and said " I think its better if you ask Robin and Regina when they would like to seal the deal" Regina noticed how Marian's looks moved past her so she decided to look behind and saw Robin was walking towards them also. She noticed how shaken up he looked so decided to ask but got interrupted when Marian voiced her concern "What's the matter, Robin?"

All three of them looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "I would like to have a family meeting after the party, please. It is urgent, I just received a call from work" right when he said "work" Marian looked at him and confirmed her suspiciousness of what this meeting might be about.

"I believe I can arrange that right now since most of the guests have already gone and I can let the others know that we are done for today" Cora said with authority.

In no time everyone was gone, Cora really did have so much power over everyone and nobody went against her wishes. Now only the family members were gathered in the living room.

"So what is it that this meeting is called for?" asked Henry Mills.

"That's what I am about to get on to." Robin let everyone know. He looked at everyone and then at Regina and decided to speak then.

"I just received a call from work, and I have to leave in three days" he said while still looking at Regina.

"We don't see anything wrong here Mr. Robin!" voiced out Zelena.

"The problem is that I don't know when I will be able to come back from New York. And I was wishing if it was possible for me to marry your daughter in one of these two days I have" he hoped while trying to read everyone's reaction.

"Surely, you can we done with your work in few months, Mr. Robin" protested Gold.

"If it was that simple I wouldn't have brought this topic up. What I am trying to say is that this project that I have taken the responsibility of might take me a year or two to get it done with and I would not be able to spear off any time for anything in those years" he confessed.

This new information got everyone startled. Regina was more concerned than anyone, she didn't know what to feel, she knew her mother wouldn't keep her at here just so she can wait for Robin to come back, she knew after hearing this her mother will finally seal the deal of her future. What bothered her the most was that she wouldn't get to know Robin completely since they have so little time to learn about each other and they barely even speak to each other now.

"I think it is fine to agree with marriage this early since you and my daughter are already engaged and I see no problem with this new development" decided Cora.

It was settled right then and there that Regina and Robin will be married in two days short which Regina had no say in and couldn't help but feel hopeless. Her whole future was decided in one day and she herself didn't have any power to do anything about it.

Cora's office

Everything was happening so quickly that Cora didn't know how to get all the arrangements done in this short time. She was pacing back and froth in her office trying to think of something. In that time there was a knock on her office door. Her secretary came in and said, "Mrs. Mills, your husband is here to discuss something with you." "Let him in!" ordered Cora.

As Henry entered his wife's office, Cora asked, "What is it that you want to discuss, dear?"

"I just wanted to ask, is it really okay to have this marriage happen this quickly?" he confronted.

"My dear husband, there is no need to worry, I know what I am doing and this marriage will provide good future for our daughter" answered Cora.

"Is it not possible that we let Regina wait until Robin is done with his work, surely he can come back afterward since they are already engaged" informed Henry with hope.

"No, I can not have my daughter waiting I don't know for how long at home sitting and doing nothing, I have decided with Marian the marriage will take place tomorrow morning. And I believe only the family members will be present for this wedding since its on short notice" Cora said while looking at her husband, who could only nod in approval. "As you wish, dear" said Henry.

Robin's Room

Pair of lips were locked onto each other, a moan was heard from one of the bodies that were tangled up with the each other. Both were getting so lost in their lust that they didn't realize they weren't in their own bedroom. That's when Robin jolt open his eyes and tried to move the other person away from him.

"We can't do this while we are here, what if someone found out about us!" said Robin softly with worry.

"Don't worry darling, nobody is coming up here, everyone is so busy with getting some of the arrangement done for your wedding with Regina tomorrow" Marian said with lustful eyes for Robin. As she tried to grab onto Robin again, she noticed how he try to avoid contact with her. This only fueled her anger more, "I don't understand why you are trying to avoid physical contact with your real wife, darling. Surely, I hope you are not starting to feel for Regina because let me inform you after this wedding, we are not taking her with us to New York. We are only doing this to get the property papers under her name. So we can sell that property to pay back money that we owe," Robin, noticed her jealously for Regina. But he knew what she was saying was true.

"I know, the call from yesterday was for that reason, they gave us a week to pay back all the money we owe in New York," he informed Marian. All she could do was nod to him.

"Then you better make sure to get her signatures on those papers. Because the day after tomorrow we will be leaving for New York" Marian notified Robin.

As her hand grabbed the door knob, she felt Robin's arm hugging her from behind, instead of appeasing her it made her more angry as she let out "I bet hugging Regina must have felt good also" she sneered at him.

Robin turn her around to face him and yelled, "Don't you dare start this bullshit with me Marian, you should know I have to do these formalities to get Regina's trust."

All Marian did was smiled a little "Are you sure you are doing this just because you have to or is it that you really do want to feel her around yourself" Robin was staring dumbfounded at her "Don't think that I didn't notice the way you show your worry for her, the way you look at her and how you hugged her when you thought I left you guys alone but I didn't Robin, I saw it" she screamed at him.

Robin grabbed her around her shoulders tightly "You better lower your voice, if you don't then I know how to shut you up Marian. And yes I hugged her because I had to and no I don't have any feelings for her, you should know that better than anyone, you are my wife Marian; I only love you" he said softly to her, into an angry tone he continued "Now, next time watch what you are saying cause I won't be responsible for what happens if you are not careful" he threatened her. All Marian could was fall back on the bed crying her eyes out while Robin left her there to herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was decided that the wedding would take place the next day. This chapter will start from the night before the wedding and so on….

(Regina's Room)

Regina couldn't sleep, this was her last night at her own house, in her own room, with her family before she will be getting married to a man she only met few days ago and already leaving everything behind to entrust her future to this man. She was hoping that her wedding would be postponed when Robin mentioned to leave for work in short time but as always her mother was always there to crush her hopes and dreams. Sigh!

"Come to think of it maybe just maybe I will be able to find my happiness with Robin since he seems to show enough care for me as of right now." She thought happily.

Regina started to think of all the things she and Robin would do once they are married, 'maybe if I keep my mind positive things will turn out just fine for me…KNOCK! KNOCK! The sudden knocking got Regina out of her thoughts and scared her a little so she quickly got out of the bed and went to open the door for who ever was out there.

Once she opened the door she saw that it was her sister then she fully opened her door to let Zelena into her room. She closed the door and turned around to find her sister sitting on her bed so she decided to go sit beside her sister.

"So was there something you wanted to talk about that you decided to interrupt me in the middle of the night?" asked Regina feeling confused.

"I see that sleep hasn't come to you" stated Zelena then continued, "I would be in the same situation if I was to get married to such a handsome and wealthy man, you must be feeling so lucky right little sis!" Zelena sneered with hate and anger towards her sister.

Regina couldn't believe what her sister was thinking….. "do you have any idea how I am feeling, I feel devastated because once again rest of my life is decided for me by mother. Just when I started to think positive about this situation, you come in here and ruin everything like always sister…" Regina couldn't take it anymore she fell into to the bed and started crying then she heard the slam of the door indicating her sister has left her to cry…..!

The next morning Regina found her self in the same position on the bed when she was crying. She made herself get up and get ready for the biggest day of her life. She made up her mind that she will not try to think anything negative about this situation. She knew it was her only option that dreaming or hoping would not get her out of this. She went to her bathroom to get ready for what was coming.

As for everyone else, Cora got everyone to work on the wedding. Even though she wished for it to be much more grand she knew time was limited for all the things she wished for. She got people to get the house decorated and the church to be ready for her daughters wedding. She didn't have many people attend the wedding since it was on such a short notice and again there was not much time. She was so caught up that she forgot to check upon her daughter this morning so she went looking for Regina.

As she got to Regina's room, she knocked on the door twice but got no response this made her panic so she just tried to see if the door was unlocked fortunately it was so she invited herself in. She called out to her daughter "Regina dear are you in here?" no response but as she got closer to the bathroom she heard noises of someone crying. "Regina dear, is that you my darling? Why are you crying, Regina?" she asked through the closed door. When she got no response she started to get angry. "Regina, come out of the bathroom this instant or else?" That tone got the poor girls' attention that was crying inside the bathroom. So she decided to get up and come out to confront her mother. When she was out she noticed that her mother was glaring at her with anger eyes so she decided to sit herself on the bed away from her mothers piercing eyes.

"I know why you are upset but try to understand my sweet daughter that I am doing this for your own good, you will be happy with Robin and the life he will be providing for you, so don't cry anymore everything will be alright you have to trust me because I am a mother and I know what's' best for my children" she explained her thoughts with hope that her daughter will stop being so dramatic.

Regina never understood why her mother thought she knew whatever she has done for daughters was best for them when all it did was made their like more miserable. "Really mother, you believe that marrying Zelena to Mr. Gold for business purposes of your own selfishness was good for her and now getting me married for your own expectations is going to be good for me. How can you call yourself a mother when you can't even stand to see your own children happy and satisfied with their life! The reason I cry is because you have become so heartless, cruel, and so not motherly. But you know what mother me and Zelena still love you and see you as our mother but I know for sure that you don't care how we feel at ALL" cried out Regina with tears running down her cheeks and anger in her red eyes.

"Please mother, listen to me this once, I don't want to get married without falling in love first and I want to marry the man of my choice. I beg you mother please stop this madness," Regina pleaded to her mother to understand. But all Cora did was laugh hysterically at Regina, "Let me tell you a secret my dear, there is no such thing as love now days. I demand that you get rid of these nonsense such as love and listen to me carefully: you will marry Robin whether you like it or not and if you don't then you can see yourself out of this family with nothing in your possession" threatened Cora. That's when Cora saw what she wanted to see, her daughter with fear in her eyes. Cora knew now her daughter won't be able to say no to this wedding, her plan worked. "Now that we have talked, I will be sending the wedding dress to your room, make sure to dress yourself properly and get yourself on time at the church" explained Cora with a satisfying smile on her face.

The next thing Regina heard was a door shut letting her know that her mother has left her to her fate. Now the only thing left her to do was get ready to be someone's wife where there was no love and trust built.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Looks like everything is going according to the plan, Marian" spoke Robin with a sense of satisfaction, as he was looking himself in the mirror in his room. He was wearing a black tuxedo.

"Yes and you look quite fancy I might add for your second wedding" said Marian with a little bit of sarcasm and jealously in her tone as she was pacing back and forth in the room. Robin did look quite handsome with his hair set in one place and that suit just made his body look defined.

But Robin just sighed at the attitude her wife was showing; he didn't know what he could do to make her understand that he felt nothing for Regina or for this marriage. So he turned around to face his wife, "I told you already, I only see this marriage as a business deal nothing less and nothing more" declared Robin.

"What ever you say my dear husband! Now have you contacted your brother to let him know that we have found a way to pay our debts so he let us come back home" Marian wanted Emmett to know that even if he wasn't ready to help his older brother then Robin had his wife to solve his problems and according to her plan everything will soon be theirs to take control.

"Yes I did talk to him an hour ago and he seemed happy to know that we will be coming back home finally after what happened it seems like my parents has cooled down too and are willing to let us in the house" Robin expressed with joy and relief and he around Marian and hugged her from behind, wrapping his arm around her and started kissing her neck.

Marian didn't mind the gesture what bothered her was the way her husband sounded happy while mentioning the people who ruined their lives. "Do you have any what they did to us and how they took away your rights. Robin why can't you see that after we pay back this debt, I want you to run the family business and take your rightful position in the house" explained Marian, after hearing this Robin stopped what he was doing and turned his wife around to face him.

"That business now belongs to Emmett and I am not going to take it from him I lost my chance when I had it and I am not ruining my families name again with my selfish acts. You should know better Marian, we can't hurt them again, I won't hurt them again…" said Robin with a defeated voice. But it made Marian furious that her coward of a husband was going to let all the money and wealth slip out of his fingers.

"What the hell is wrong with you Robin? HMMM! I am here hoping for things and trying to get you your wealth but you my dear husband are just thinking the opposite" yelled Marian with anger and irritation. "Look Robin, we can't let Emmet have everything, you are the oldest it should be him asking you for money not you. If we go back to the house we will achieve in getting you back into the office, don't you want that, baby?" asked Marian trying to stay calm.

But all she got from Robin was silence and as walk to the bed and sat on it he replied, "I don't think we should go anymore Marian, lets just get this marriage and paperwork done then move somewhere else…" stated Robin with a serious tone; he knew if they went back things will not be the same since they have done the damage that ruined so many relationships.

"You can't be serious Robin!" Marian was shocked at what she heard. She couldn't let Robin ruin everything she has done so far just for them to not have anything in the end.

"Marian, I have made up my mind, I am not going back to New York" decided Robin.

"Oh my god, you cant possible be saying that Robin, I am not letting you ruin everything that I have worked for just so you could change your mind at the last minute" right then something came to Marian "how can you not to go to New York when we are suppose to be going there with Regina" asked Marian hoping this will stop Robin from making a mistake.

But all Robin did was laugh at her which confused Marian "ahahaha…..ahahaha… you really thought we would be taking her to New York, oh my sweet wife did you forget that we decided to leave her unconscious at the hotel where we will be staying our stay before the flight" Robin reminded her.

Marian didn't know what to say, she couldn't believe she forgot their plan for a second there but in the haste of everything that was the only thing she thought could work against Robin's decision. As she got her mind to relax, she looked at Robin who again was in front of the mirror fixing himself then she checked the time and saw there was half an hour left before they were to leave for the church.

Sigh! "I think we should start to leave for the church there's only half an hour left, its better to be early than late" Marian said with a weak voice.

"Well then lets get going" Robin said quickly. Then they were out of the door and ready to go.

(At the same time in Regina's Room who had to leave within an hour)

Regina starred at herself in the mirror; the maids left her few minutes ago to her thoughts and prepare herself for what was to come. The time has come finally. She was wearing a white sparkling wedding gown with shoulder cuts. Her hair was flowing down to her shoulders all straight. Her mother picked the dress and it was a beautiful dress. It fit her perfectly. Knock! Knock! The knocking gets Regina out of her daze so she walks to the door to open it then she saw again it was her mother at the door so she let her in.

Cora came into the room and looked at her daughter from bottom to top and had a beautiful smile on her face. "You look gorgeous my dear daughter. I hope you are ready to leave because I am here to take you to the church. Everyone is already there but your sister is waiting for us in the car." Her time was up in this house and now she will be going to somewhere new and with new people. It did scare her but she knew nothing was in her power.

Cora and Regina left to go to the church!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(At the Church)

The deed was done; she was a married woman now. The wedding rings were exchanged; their first kiss was shared in front of everyone. Everybody had a happy smile on his or her face; everyone except her. But of them all her mother was the happiest person that made her happy a little knowing finally she has done something to make her mother happy. Her mother had put everything in this marriage, the decorations were great, and now they were at reception; she was spending her last moments with the people she has grown up with.

There was music playing in the background to which couples were dancing. "Now Ladies and Gentleman, lets have the bride and the groom do their wedding dance," announced Cora with excitement.

At the announcement, Robin went up to Regina, who was standing by the drinks table; having a drink "May I have this dance, my dear wife?" proposed Robin with a gentle smile on his face and getting down on his knees in front of Regina; who could do nothing but blush then she stuttered a "Ye-Yes, please".

At one of the corners of the reception room someone else was blushing red but with anger. Marian couldn't believe Robin had got down on one knee for Regina, who he was going to dumb somewhere really soon. The only thing she has been feeling since she has come into the Mills house was anger and was starting to feel low self-esteem since all Robin has been doing is giving all his attention to Regina. She knew it was to be done that they decided it together but what she didn't know was that it was going to be this hard seeing them like this. She couldn't handle it but she knew she had to it was for their future.

"They look good together don't you think, Mrs. Nolan?" the question startled Marian out of her thoughts. So she turned her head to her right and saw Mr. Gold with a smirk on his face. By looking at this man she got a hint from the tone of his voice and they way he was looking at her and the wedding couple, who were now dancing a slow dance to "Take My Hand" by Emily Hackett and Will Anderson of Parachute, looking absolutely perfect as Mr. Gold had pointed out, she felt as if he knew something about her and they way his eyes fell on her and then slightly over Robin, she started to panic, getting a feeling that he might know the secret about them so she asked, "Wha-Wha-What do you mean Mr. Gold?"

"Oh don't worry dearie, I didn't mean anything bad by it unless you think maybe there was something I said wrong about my observation" he asked her with curious eyes.

But Marian knew she couldn't fall into his trickery because if she did everything would be lost. "No, No, No Mr. Gold I also thing they look perfect together and happy" she tried to say with confidence not letting her jealousy get in the way.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap! "Wow, what an incredible view that was" spoke Henry Mills on the speaker. "Now that the wedding couple had danced, lets everyone dance together." It was only family member and few people who were invited, which totaled out to 12 people, not many. They were now all dancing to "Come away with me" by Norah Jones.

(After few hours)

The reception was over, everything went perfect and now Cora was satisfied. Her daughter will be leaving in an hour to New York with her family. Cora had asked Regina and Robin to come meet her at her office, so here she was looking at her daughter with a wonderful man by her side who will now take care of Regina and provide her with everything she need and would treat her like a queen. After she learned about Robin's leaving she had worked with her family lawyer to have the money and property paperwork done immediately. "So, now that my daughter is married into your family Robin, she will be taking her family property and money with her to build her future with you together and all she need to do now is sign the papers and your will be added into to it" explained Cora with a sweet smile.

That's when Regina decided to speak up, "But mother shouldn't my money and property be under my name only why does Robin have to take part in it."

"Oh dear Regina, it's a tradition in our family, once your married your spouse shares everything with you and it is good way of building trust in each other and companionship" again Cora explained with a serious tone of voice leaving no argument.

"Its alright with me if Regina doesn't want to add my name, I just hope I can come to gain your daughter's trust soon, Mrs. Mills, I would wait for however long it will take and I won't ever let your daughter down in anything, I will take good care of her and love her with all my heart and will wait for years to have her love me in return" Robin sounded so sincere when he said that it gave Regina a warm feeling in her heart not only this but it impressed Cora, how much this man seemed to care.

"Oh Robin please call me mother now, and don't you worry about my daughter, she knows how she is suppose to treat you. You will sign these documents right here and now, Regina" demanded Cora as she looked at her daughter.

When Regina recognized the way her mother was looking at her, she quickly got off the chair and came to the table to sign the papers. When the papers were signed, Cora handed them to Robin instead of Regina.

When Robin received the papers, he felt as if he was the luckiest man alive. '_Now all of my problems will be solved, the only thing left for me do is take Regina to the hotel and get back to New York as soon as possible'_ he concluded his plan.

"Um…mother, can I have some alone time before I leave permanently?" Regina said in a distressed voice.

All Cora did was nod in giving permission for her to leave. As Regina walked out of her mother's office, she decided to visit her apple tree at front of the house. As went near it, she leaned into it, touching it with her palm, and feeling its texture. She was going to miss her apple tree. It was one of her favorite childhood memories with her beloved father with whom she planed it together when she was 7 years old. At thought of her father, she realized that her father hasn't talked to her since her marriage was decided, she didn't know why her father, the person she loves the most, was not with her at her weakest hours.

"Oh, how I wish you were here with me daddy, I would really like someone to help me through this" sobbed out Regina as she cried while looking up at the apple tree.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her at the right shoulder, when she looked behind her she saw it was her father. "Oh daddy, where have you been, I missed you so much!" cried out Regina.

Henry then came up to his daughter and wiped her tears away with his hands. "Don't cry my love, everything will be alright" Henry tried to give hope but failing as his own tears were now falling down his cheeks.

Regina saw this and hugged her father tightly, "I don't want to be away from you, daddy" she stated with a heavy heart. "You are not going to be away from me my baby girl, you will always find me in your heart, my love for you is endless. Even though I love you so much, I couldn't do anything against your mother's will to stop her madness, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, Regina, I have failed you as a father" at this point Henry was full on crying; he felt so useless and hopeless.

"Oh daddy please don't cry" Regina wiped the tears on her father face, "I never blamed you for anything, the one who should apologize, should be mother but I know it won't happen" Regina confessed.

"I promise to you daddy, that I will try to stay happy and find love with Robin. So don't worry about me anymore, it is time for me to do things for myself now" Regina stated with a new enthusiasm. It seemed as if seeing and talking to her father gave her some sort of hope for her future. She just hoped everything would eventually be all right like her father said.

At that Henry had a small smile on his lips, she could see that her daughter had actually grown up and was ready to take control. "Well then I am glad to hear that Regina,…now lets get back in the mansion, you are about to leave soon", Henry reminded her.

"Thank you daddy! I love you so much" declared Regina with all the love she had for her father.

"I love you too, Regina" replied Henry as they started walking into the house.

Now Regina was ready to leave, even though it is going to be hard. She was happy enough that she got spend few minutes with her tree and her father for the last time.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As the time approaches near for Regina to leave, every family member gathers up in the living room. Regina decided to say her goodbyes to everyone individually while Robin is getting all of their stuff put away in the car. Marian is waiting for Regina to get done with her pathetic goodbyes so they could leave already. So she decided to call out to her, "Lets go Regina, I know it hard but we have to leave right now to get to the hotel on time", Marian said with a fake smile on her face. Regina was now saying her last goodbyes to her Daddy, "Bye daddy, I will miss you so much", "I will miss you too my sweetheart, make sure to call us when you get to New York" informed Henry. "Yes daddy I will" assured Regina.

So she went with her now new family to New York without knowing what was ahead.

(The Hotel Room)

"If you don't mind me asking, why are we staying in a hotel instead of going straight to the airport?" Regina asked as she was sitting on the bed and was confused with the circumstances. It was only she and Robin in the room; Marian had booked a separate room for herself.

Robin, who had just freshened up and was checking his appearance in the mirror, turned around and looked at her with panicked eyes, "Umm….I have to tell you something, we um had a little change in our plans. I am actually meeting one of my clients in this hotel and we are staying the night here," he confessed.

Regina didn't know what to say; surely they should have discussed this with her beforehand. Now she had no idea how to react to this situation.

"Um well then, when are you meeting this client of yours?" there was nothing she could say; she knew getting angry wouldn't do her no good so let it go.

Robin had been watching Regina since this conversation started, he noticed how Regina had started breathing in and out slowly, trying to let her anger/nervousness down. So, he went up to her and sat down beside her, "Hey listen, please don't be nervous I won't be gone for long. This client of mine is very important to me because he is the one helping with my project", he tried to assure her. After hearing that, Regina started to calm down.

She turned towards him and said, "Okay...i know I am overreacting but please don't judge me. This is just really a delicate situation I am in and I have no clue what I am suppose to be feeling. I know you are a kind, gentle, and nice man and I wouldn't have asked for more but I don't know why I am still feeling scared" she finally let her feelings out to Robin. She had been dying to convey how she has been feeling about everything that has happened unto now she just hoped that Robin would take it gently.

She got up and started pacing back and forth. Robin was still sitting on the bed, when he noticed that she was pacing back and forth he got up and grabbed Regina's bicep to stop her pacing and hugged her from behind. This took Regina by surprise, as she felt his arms around her waist and his face nuzzling in her hair. Robin smelled Regina's hair that smelled like apples, and he instantly loved the smell, then he went to move her aside and kissed her neck. Which caused Regina to stop her breathing as she felt his lips kiss around her neck and closed her eyes letting the feeling of his lips sink in.

"My dear Regina, Don't be scared, specially not from me, I promise to always take care of you, and always be there for you. You are the most beautiful woman I have seen and I am also lucky that I got you as my life partner. I believe it is true that I love you, Regina", at his admission, Regina opened her eyes and turned around. Now she was looking into Robin's greenish eyes, which showed care and love. She couldn't believe that Robin had felt love for her; whereas she herself couldn't decide what feelings she had for him.

"You love me, Robin?" she tried to make sure. "Yes I love you, Regina, please believe me" Robin said hoping that she believed him. Then he felt soft lips on his lips, which conveyed more feelings than its owner's words. They kissed for about few minutes before separating. "Please, try to come back soon from your meeting" Regina said feeling weak and sad at the same time. "Don't worry love, I will be back before you know it" Robin said with a sweet smile, which melted Regina's heart.

As they let go of each other, Regina instantly missed feeling him around herself. She wanted them to stay like that forever but she knew time wasn't on their side.

"Bye love", Robin said as he kissed her cheek without Regina having time to react then he was already out of the room and the next thing Regina heard was the door closing.

She just let herself fall back on the bed and sit there with a sweet smile on her face, replaying the moments that occurred between her and Robin. Finally, after everything that has happened, she found her herself feeling happy.

(Another room in the same hotel)

"What took you so long?" asked the person with an irritation in their voice as Robin walked into the room.

"I am sorry, I was trying to calm down my new wife, she started to panic out of nowhere so I had to do something before something unusually happened" Robin explained himself.

"Oh great, then maybe you should have spend few more hours with her to make sure she wouldn't to anything childish" the person said being sarcastic.

"Oh please, you are the one acting childish, Marian" Robin was getting frustrated with Marian's behavior lately.

"Oh how so my dear husband, Would you like to explain it to me?" Marian, now more irritated to being compared to a child.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe how you have been whiny and getting jealous for no reasons what so ever from Regina. You knew before we agreed to this, that this would happen so why are you trying to make it harder for me to concentrate on our plan. You know how much in need we are for that money" Robin tried to get through his real wife.

After hearing that from Robin, she came up to Robin and hugged him, "I know, I am sorry that I have been letting my feelings for you get in the way of our plan" her anger now all gone as she felt content at finally getting to touch Robin after few days.

Robin also let his irritation go and decided to enjoy this moment with Marian. He did really love Marian with all his heart but he knew that he felt something for Regina, maybe attractions or lust he didn't know but he knew it is not love. His heart only belonged to Marian he knew that from the first moment he saw Marian at the college they both attended. He was brought back from his memory when he felt Marian's lips on his neck.

He backed away from her, "What are you doing?" he asked as he went to the bathroom to check his neck in the mirror. "Marian, we can't do this right now, look now your lipstick is on my neck I hope there isn't a bruise because what I am going to tell Regina if she noticed" Robin let out in a hurry.

As he came out of the bathroom, he noticed that Marian was back to being jealous again so he corrected himself, "What I mean is that I lied to her that I was going to meet one of my client here in the hotel, you know that we can't do anything wrong because it will ruin everything, please try to see that" Robin didn't wanted to be angry with her again he hoped that she would try to see that.

"I know, I know right now it's all about her, all about Regina. You don't have to repeat yourself Robin" Marian tried very hard to not get angry at him, she knew its not his fault. Then she felt his arms again hugging her, trying to assure her that he was faithful to her and she knew that in her heart too but she just couldn't put her finger on it that something was telling her the opposite.

"I am sorry to ask this but can you leave me right now because sooner or later you have to go back to her since it's 'supposedly' your honeymoon night", she said while letting out a heavy breath.

Robin instantly let her go; he has never heard his wife ask him to leave her alone. This shocked him, but he knew that if he stayed things could get out of hand and he didn't want that so he left Marian and went to Regina.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

(Regina and Robin's Hotel Room)

'What is taking Robin so long? He said that the meeting wouldn't take much time!' Regina thought while trying to rest but it seemed all she could do was think about Robin. Her heart could not believe she found such a person who truly loves her and wants to care for her. She just couldn't stop smiling at these thoughts of happiness and love.

"Hmm! If Robin won't be here for a while I might as well look around the hotel and explore this place" Regina said to herself as she got up and went out the door. As she was passing by she was impressed by the way everything was arranged around the hotel.

'Maybe I should have changed into something comfortable' she thought to herself as other residences in the hotel were staring at her. As she was about to turn into an exit from the hotel she felt herself collide with someone and felt something cold run down on her chest and dress. She couldn't believe someone dared ruined her wedding dress.

"OH GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" she yelled at the person whoever ruined her precious dress. As she looked up she was greeted by same greenish eyes as Robin's for a second she thought it was him but he was slightly taller than her and had blonde hair where as Robin is about or around her height and has brown hair. Yet she could not stop her eyes from roaming around his beautiful face; the perfect greenish eyes with beautiful blond hair, those red lips with a strong sharp jaw….she could go on and on about this man but it wouldn't be enough to describe him.

"You should know where you were walking and don't try to place this blame on me when it was not my intention to ruin your dress" this broke Regina from her fantasy and couldn't believe her ears what this man was saying and trying to get away with from his mistake. "Well just to be sure you are the one who ruined my dress not the other way around so this is completely your fault Mr. whoever you are" she defended herself.

"Listen whoever you are, I do not have time for this nonsense I have to be somewhere important you have already wasted enough of my time here by standing in my way and just doing god knows what so I ask you kindly move out of my way so I may leave" the man said as he pushed past her and went towards the same direction she just came from.

"Excuse me ma'am, sorry about my friend do forgive him but here take this and hopefully when we meet again it would be in a different situation" another man said to her as she also walked past her after the first man. When she looked down at her hand she saw a white handkerchief with a capital italicized black 'N'.

All she could do was debate weather to throw away the handkerchief or keep it, when she looked down at her dress she saw a nasty looking stain already on her so she just decided to keep the handkerchief as a reminder to her for payback in the future if they ever meet again and stomped back to her room to change before Robin comes back.

(Back at the room)

She hurriedly opened the door and let herself in and quickly went for the bathroom. As she opened the door she instantly regretted it because her and robin were staring right back each other and it was getting uncomfortable for her so she shut the door back and went to stand outside the bathroom.

"So…. Where were you?" asked Robin as he appeared out of the bathroom.

"oh-uh well since you were taking your time with the meeting I decided to look around the hotel nothing else" she answered as she noticed Robin had changed into a wife beater and sweatpants. He really did have nice muscular arms. She caught herself blushing at the thought.

"Oh really then tell me milady what happened to your beautiful dress? Who dare ruin such a peace?" he asked out of curiosity as what had occurred while he was away.

"Um uh well as I was walking around I accidently bumped into someone while taking a turn and spilled his drink on me because of the collision. I have no clue who the man was but he didn't even think to apologize for his mistake but one thing is for sure I will never forgive him and if I were to see him again he will apologize" she let out feeling anger as well as ambitious to get that man to apologize to her if they ever meet again.

"Well I'm really sorry to hear that Regina but please forget about that incident and change into someone else and lets have dinner that I ordered for ourselves" he said as he tried to change the topic and trying to have a enjoyable night with happy Regina instead of the angry one.

"Yes, why not" Regina said with a sigh as she felt herself feel hungry at the mention of food and decided to go freshen up.

(After Dinner)

"Did you like the food?" asked Robin as they both were staring at the outside world from their window for a while now after their dinner.

"Yes" Regina simply said. Robin didn't know where this conversation was going or the night he was looking for clues as to what was going inside Regina's mind.

"Well then how about we go to sleep then…" he simply asked her.

"Did you really mean it when you said that Robin?" Robin didn't know what was Regina referring to.

"What are you talking about?" he carefully asked her.

"When you said you love me?" Regina asked as she turned to him and moved closer to him now they were looking into each other's eyes.

"Yes," breathed out Robin as he felt himself lost in those pretty brown eyes and he couldn't stop himself from leaning into Regina to kiss those sweet lips again.

As their lips touched again one was feeling loved and other could feel the desires running through his body wanting to have Regina to himself already. As the kiss came to an end he heard Regina whisper to him to take her to their bed, which he was happy to follow to. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he knew where things were headed.

Hello guys, i know its been a while since i started the story but i would like to know if the story is coming out well according to your opinions and i would like to let you guys know that I'm not really good at writing the sex scenes so i might not go there lol but please let me know if you guys like the story or if i should make changes to my writing...thank u :)


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(Regina and Robin's Room)

Regina woke the next morning to find herself alone on the bed. Her other side was empty which meant Robin was up and must be in the bathroom. She got up and saw her dress on the floor, which got her thinking about last night making her blush seeing images of Robin worshiping her body and letting her feel incredible pleasure. She loved making love with Robin it was the best feeling she has yet experienced in her life.

"Well now lets see what my dear hubby is up to" she got up to knock on the door of the bathroom when she didn't receive any reply she grabbed the knob and turned it around to find it unlocked and open, she peeked inside to see if Robin was in the shower and didn't hear her knock but every thing was quite inside the bathroom. Which got her thinking where might Robin be right now.

"I'll check with Marian and see if he's with her but first I need to get dressed" she figured.

She decided to get fresh and shower before going to Marian's room that took her some time. When she was in front of the room she knocked on the room but didn't find the door open she knocked several times before she saw a room service guy walk towards her, she asked him about her husband and her sister–in-law.

"I'm sorry ma'am, the guest from this room has already taken their leave an hour ago" this shocked Regina to her core. 'How can that be?' she asked herself.

What the man from that room, she pointed towards her room "That guest as well ma'am, he left half an hour ago" he informed her. 'Why did they both left on different times? Could it be another meeting they both needed to go somewhere to go to? But why wouldn't Robin tell me that before!' she caught herself thinking.

"Umm uh thank you so much for letting me know" with that she decided to go back to her room to figure out what was happening all of a sudden.

After she was in the room she got her phone and called Robin's cell. "The number you are trying to reach is not valid at the moment" said the machine on the other side. Regina didn't know what to other than panic when she received the same feedback from Marian's number.

All of a sudden she got up and started looking for Robin's stuff, which was nowhere to be found his luggage was gone. 'The papers' she grabbed her luggage and started roaming through it to find the papers but to no luck the papers were gone too. That's when she found herself out of breath and the room felt like it was spinning. Regina fainted on the floor.

(Meanwhile….)

They were finally close to finish their plan. They were now at the airport ready to get on their flight to New York, they just got done with checking inn and couldn't wait to get on the airplane.

"You sure she won't come after us" asked Robin out of fear. On top of being afraid he was also feeling quite guilty for the events that occurred last night between him and Regina. That was his biggest concern at the moment he didn't want Marian finding about his cheating because he knew she would be furious and won't trust him ever again.

"Don't worry Robin, everything is going as planned. That is if you didn't give her the sleeping drug then we have a problem but if you did your job then we should be fine besides i don't see her screaming your name around the airport" Marian eyes him suspiciously simply because she has never seen Robin so out of composure before.

"I did, don't worry about it. I gave it to her last night she should still be asleep" he lied. 'Why are you letting it bother you so much Robin? Just think of her as a one-night stand nothing else, besides you need to act normal before Marian gets after you' he lectured himself.

Flight number ****** to New York will be departing soon!

"Finally its time!" Robin let out his breath he didn't know he was holding.

'Good bye Regina' he said as he looked back one more time to the entrance of airport.

(Back to Regina at the Hotel)

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! The knocking got Regina to open her eyes. "Ugh what is going on?" she wondered as she looked towards the door. She then remember that she fainted that Robin and Marian left without her to god knows where. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! The knocking got her back to the present. She needed to open the door and see.

"Are you trying to break door with your fists? Let me tell you something this is not your punching bag!" she said to whoever was in front of her.

"I am sorry ma'am but I have been trying to get you to open your door for quite a while now" the guy with a fancy suit said to her. "But I need you to please pack up your belongings and leave this room immediately. You have stayed over your time limit in our hotel, if you wish to stay longer you will have to make another payment" he informed her.

"Wait…what are you talking about? This can't be my husband isn't back yet and my sister in law from the next room. I don't understand how you can try to kick me out"

she just couldn't believe what was happening first her new family was missing and now this.

"Please ma'am, this room is under your name so was the other room which has been emptied out and paid, but the guest from the next room has left already and it doesn't seem they will be back"

"How can you say that when you have no idea?" things were getting out of hand, she didn't know what to do.

"Listen ma'am, I am the manager of this hotel and I ask of nicely to either leave or make another payment, that is all I ask" the manager tried to make sense of the situation.

"I won't deal with you anymore until my husband is here" she fought back.

"And where is your husband ma'am?" asked the manager.

"I-I don't know" now Regina was feeling weak.

"You don't know where your husband is? Are you playing games with me ma'am because I do not have time for this nonsense!" this was not what she expected her future to look like.

"His name is Robin Nolan and I have called him but it seems like his phone is out of range or something" now she was feeling worried for Robin's safety. Maybe something happened to him, an accident or he was stuck somewhere.

"Alright! I have had enough of this, could please come to the lobby and check out this room again" he offered.

"Can you also try calling my husband since I can't seem to reach his phone" she wanted to get in touch with him so much, she needed to know what was going on.

"Yes, of course"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Cry….that was all she could do now. It seemed as Robin and Marian had disappeared out of her life. She tried getting the police to help her but they told her the situation didn't look like it was a kidnapping or anything of the sort. She even asked several people around the hotel who might have seem them but no one seemed to know where they went. This was turning out to be a nightmare for Regina. At the end she found herself paying for another night at the hotel in the same room she and Robin shared hoping that they might come back. She also realized much later that her tickets were missing so there was no point in going to the airport since they won't tell her anything either.

Her mother had called her several times over the day and now it was nighttime. She was sitting on the floor crying; she didn't know what to make of this. Was all Robin said was a lie? What about last night? 'I gave myself to him. How could he leave me like this here all alone after vowing to take care of me'. She looked her ring and kissed it. "No, there might be something that I don't know of, Robin wouldn't do this to me, he loves me" hope was her last strength. She hoped for his return and takes her with him.

RING RING RING RING…..RING RING RING RING…

"ROBIN!"

"Hello Regina, this is your mother dear. What is going on?"

"…nothing mother, I was just uh uh…."

"Dear I tried to call Robin and Marian several times but something is not right, their number is coming out invalid, would care to explain what is happening over there?"

"…..sob..sob…sob…."

"Regina! Whats going on Regina? Why are you crying?"

"….sob…mother…..sob…. he's not here mother, he's not here, he left me at the hotel" at the admission Regina just broke down and started crying harder. Reality was being cruel to her.

"Regina please take a hold of yourself and stop crying, you need to tell me where you are and I'll come pick you up right away, my child" Cora insisted.

"Um no mother not right now I want to be alone and wait until tomorrow morning for Robin's return but after tomorrow you can come pick me up" She still felt as if there was a chance of Robin returning to her. With that she hung up the phone on her mother and fell to deep sleep on the floor with tears running down her cheeks.

(Cora and Henry's room)

"Cora who were you talking to?" asked Henry.

"That was our daughter, Regina" Cora replied feeling tensed and worried.

"Dear this is no time for jokes, she's in the airplane right now and there is no way it could have been her you were talking to her then" Henry theorized with seriousness.

"I am being serious Henry, out daughter is in some hotel without her husband who just left her there all alone, I don't understand what is going on over there….OUR DAUGHTER WAS CRYING" she yelled.

"Darling please sit down" Henry tried to relax his beating heart as well as was trying to calm down Cora.

"Ohh my poor baby, she's all alone out there and she doesn't need me" Cora sobbed out.

"That's not true dear, she needs all of us, we need to bring her home immediately. We need to head out now" he comforted her.

"I asked her where was she but she didn't say anything she said she wants to be alone that she wants to wait for Robin to show up" Cora explained.

"Why did Robin leave her? Why would he do that?" asked Henry trying to figure out why was this happening to their daughter.

"I don't know, I never imagined this was going to happen. I have always been cautious of everything when it came to Regina even though it meant being hard on her and hurting her feelings but that was all for her best interest. I didn't want her to have a failed future. Oh god this is all my fault Henry, she will never forgive me for this" Cora was now full on crying.

Henry held Cora tying to sooth her with his loving words, "No, my dear she won't because she knows what ever you have done for her was for her best but this will break her, this will break our baby Cora even I cant deny this" he was crying with her now too.

" Mother, Father! What's happening?" Zelena came rushing in their room when she heard the sounds crying.

"…your sister…" Cora got out before she started crying again.

"Your sister…. Uh Robin and Marian left your sister in a hotel all alone" Henry explained.

"This is no time to cry mother, we need to look for Regina right now. If you guys can't then I will and I will look into every single hotel out there if I have to " with that said, Zelena left her parents on the floor to search for her sister.

(After an hour of searching… )

Ring..ring..ring….

"Hey little sis, where are you? ….Come on you need to tell where you are Regina? I have been looking for you for an hour now. Please spare me the chase….….well now see that was easy to do I'll be there soon sis" now she knew where Regina was that meant her search will be over.

While on the road Zelena couldn't help herself but to think about where things were going. 'Why did they left Regina at the hotel when they were suppose to go together and now both of their numbers aren't working, this looks like a scheme more and more' she thought.

'I may not show my love for Regina but nobody is allowed to hurt my little sis except me' she sneered at the thought of them.

The sun was rising by the time Zelena was closing in to her sister's hotel. She has been driving for quite a while now just half an hour more.

(Regina's Room)

'Zelena will be here soon. How will I explain what happened when I don't even have any idea?' Regina was panicking and pacing around her room after she was woken up by the call from her sister few hours ago. She wanted to disappear right now and never be found again because she didn't know how will she deal with her family. 'Will they blame me for what happened? Was it even my fault that Robin left?' she couldn't help but think of rubbish questions as such.

Knock knock knock

"Looks like she's here" Regina breathed in some air and let it out to prepare herself for whatever was going to transpire here. She stood in front of her door with her hand on the door knob….she turned it to open it and saw her sister standing in front of her when the door was completely open.

"You seem surprised little sis, I called before I was coming it shouldn't be surprising to see me here" Zelena was trying to act her usual self as always to fend off the tension in the air she was feeling from Regina.

"Y—ye-yes I know, I am just..i guess I was hoping for…." She couldn't finish her thought.

"Were you for instance waiting for Robin to show up? Hmm little sis! The man who left you after the wedding night, now why would someone wait for someone like that" Zelena couldn't help but speak her mind.

"You…you..you don't know that, something must have happened. He wouldn't leave me like this" Regina didn't know if she was trying to soothe her heart or Zelena.

SLAP!

Regina was now covering her left cheek with her hand where Zelena just slapped her. She looked at her sister with wide eyes. Zelena has never raised a hand on her, this came out to be very shocking that her sister just hit her.

"NOW! You will come with me back home and stop with your nonsense and I won't take a no for an answer Regina. I will be waiting for you in the car parked in front of the hotel so get your things packed up and come out when you are done" the slap came out of nowhere from Zelena's part, she didn't mean to hit her little sister like that but she couldn't take seeing her talking rubbish like that there was no other way for her to let Regina know reality was much worse for her, she just walked out of the room and left Regina to come out soon.

'I can not believe she hit me' Regina thought as looked at her sister's back out of her room.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

(Another Room in the hotel)

"Ruben?"

"Hmm"

"What do you think of this contract?"

"Well if you ask me it seems quite risky considering whom is it coming through" Ruben offered his opinion.

"I told you this is his only chance of redeeming himself"

"Oh come on Emmett, aren't you surprised that he was able to pull this off this quickly in only a week with that much worth of property" questioned Ruben.

"It doesn't matter Ruben, with the money he has received from these papers, it will pay off his debt in Europe and he will be back after he is done with his business over there to work together with me on our family business. That is all I care about" even though Emmett didn't smile often but Ruben could tell he was happy for his younger brother.

"Very well my dear friend, now lets get back home" Ruben really missed New York compare to this place here.

Emmett was not paying attention to him anymore he was staring intently at one paper from the file. "Ruben this paper doesn't have the signatures; it needs to be signed. Besides we can't leave yet" Emmett answered.

"What! Why?" this disappointed Ruben.

"Because the property is from here someplace named StoryBrooke" Emmett explained.

"Alright lets go then" Ruben couldn't help but agree to whatever his friend demanded.

"I bet you wish our receptionist dearly" teased Emmett with smirk on his face.

"Shut up" Ruben punched his childhood friend but couldn't stop himself from blushing.

As Emmett walked out of the room, Ruben came after him and locked their room. They both walked towards the exit of the hotel while talking about little talks about business and personal life. As Emmett grabbed the handle on the exit door he felt someone else hand on to of his he turned to his side and saw the same girl who had bumped him into yesterday when they came into the hotel.

"You" he said under his breath as he glared at her.

"Yes me" Regina glared with equal seriousness at him. Ruben couldn't help but look at the scene and let out a laugh. That's when both turned towards him and were now staring at him.

"What?" Ruben just shrugged his shoulders.

"Lets go Ruben, I don't have time for people like her" Emmett commented as he reached to open the door to leave but stopped.

"Who do you think you are talking to? Just because you find yourself busy does not mean everybody else life is unimportant compare to yours" Regina couldn't stop herself from getting angry at this man who seemed to think so highly of himself.

"Then you should get back to your business and I will get back to mine. Now good day" with that Emmett opened up the door and was out of the hotel Ruben went after Emmett as well not before saying his good byes to Regina.

'Why do I keep bumping into him on my worst times' Regina didn't know why he was bothering her mind so much. She just decided to let it go for now and went out the door towards her sister's car to go back home.

"Took you long enough little sis" Zelena teased, as Regina was about to reach the car.

"Jj—Just get me home sis" she wasn't in the mood to play around.

(On the other side of the parking lot)

"You know you can be a little nicer once in a while" Ruben told his friend.

"I don't need to be anything towards anyone Ruben"

"If you ask me you owed her an apology for spilling your drink on her dress yesterday"

Ruben offered as he looked at his friend with a serious face.

"No Ruben, it was her fault for getting in my way, she clearly didn't know where she was walking" Emmett reasoned out.

Ruben just hung his head down shook it left to right slowly, why was it so hard for his friend to accept his mistake. He just let out a sigh!

"Very well then" with that he drove out of the hotel towards Storybrooke.

(R &amp; Z)

"Yes mother, Regina is with me at the moment…Well you won't be able to talk to her right now because she is sleeping…It will take us another hour mother to reach home. Alright bye mother see you soon" Zelena glanced at her sister and noticed the tears flowing out of her eyes. She just went back to driving.

"Robin Nolan…Marian Nolan" Zelena said out loud to herself with anger laced to her voice.

"ROBIN!" yelled as she woke up from her broken sleep.

"Sis! Sis! Are you alright?" the shout surprised Zelena for a second she thought she hit someone on her car. She kept glancing back at her sister while keeping eyes on the road as well to make sure Regina was all right.

"It was just a dream" informed Regina.

"Would you mind sharing what it was about?" inquired Zelena. Trying to get her to talk to her.

"No, I don't want to talk about him at the moment" Regina just closed her eyes again trying very hard to forget about her dream of Robin. It felt so real to her. They were back at the hotel like the night when they made love. Every thing was happening over again in the dream except after the wedding night instead of Robin leaving she finds him in a car crash. Maybe that was it something happened to them something life threatening. No that couldn't be she would have been confirmed about it since she was his wife now. But nothing of that sort has had happened.

"We are here sis" Zelena announced. But received no answer from Regina.

"Regina" Zelena said while shaking her out of her trance.

"Huh" Regina looked at Zelena trying to figure out what was she trying to say.

"I said we are here, we are home" Zelena helped her out of the car.

She was back home, home to her parents, her daddy. But will she be able to face them after what happened. 'It was bound to happen sooner or later' thought Regina.

(Emmett and Ruben Physical Description: Emmett- greenish eyes like Robins', Height: 5'11", blonde hair, fit figure: lean chest, 6 pack abs, toned muscular arms

Ruben: light brownish eyes, height: 5'9", brown hair shoulder length; pulled back or sometimes tied at the back, figure: broad lean chest, 6 pack abs, muscular arms) I guess you guys can imagine the rest ;)


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

(Another note: Emmett will be wearing plain colored professional shirts with short sleeves; a tie and a vest on top; in the original show the main guy wears these shirts with a proper fit which shows off his bicep muscles; Emmett will also we wearing black jeans with casual dress black shoes. Ruben will be seen mostly fully dressed in professional attire like Robin. If guys want a image of what Emmett will look like you can search 'Maan Singh Khurana from Geet' on Google images ;) the characters will be seen wearing casual dressing as well)

(Back at the Mansion…)

She was in the living room surrounded by her family. More than comforting it was making her nauseous. The moment she steeped back inside the mansion her parents engulfed her in a tight hug as she let out all the pain in her parents' loving embrace. Now they all seem to be staring at her as if waiting for her to tell them what exactly happen but she herself was clueless as were they.

"May I go to my room now, mother?" was all Regina asked, trying to evade talking about anything.

Cora didn't know what to say, she desperately wanted to know what has taken place for Robin to leave her daughter by herself at the hotel so she just kept staring at her daughter to let her know she had questions that she wanted answers of.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened first!" Cora tried to press the event.

"I-I-I have nothing to say mother" Regina tried her best not to get nervous as she stared right back her mother trying to let her know she couldn't do this right now.

"I understand you may go" Cora let out a sigh. With that Regina got up to go upstairs to her room.

They all stared at her back as she vanished inside her room and all was left to see was her closed door.

"Well well isn't this a new development in a rushed marriage. Hmm?" Mr. Gold's taunt got everyone's attention on him now.

"Well will discuss this later for now lets give her some space." said Henry as he also left to go back inside his room. Cora went right after him.

"You need to keep you mouth shut" Zelena spat out to Gold.

"Me? Well I was only speaking the truth dearie." With that he smirked which Zelena desperately wanted to wipe off his face but knew it wasn't worth it. She as well also left to her room.

"It looks like nobody is ready to face the facts, Oh well more fun for me I assume" Gold said no one as he smiled to himself in excitement.

(C &amp; H Room)

"I should go talk to her right now" Cora said as she got up to go to Regina's room but was stopped as she felt Henry's hand holding her wrist. So she looked at him in confusion. "Why are you stopping me?" asked Cora.

"We need to give her space as I said before" Henry tried to argue.

"But Henry, I need to know what happened. How can someone marry our daughter and leave her the next morning all alone when he promised to be with her" This was so confusing to Cora. She wanted to know the reason for why Robin left.

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself that, you were the one who was so sure of this marriage, of Robin Cora" Henry reminded her.

"I know that Henry that is exactly why I need to know what caused this" she wouldn't settle down until she knew what took place between her daughter and Robin.

Knock knock knock….

"Come in" Cora announced.

"Mother?" Zelena announced her appearance.

"What's wrong my dear?" Henry asked his daughter.

"I wanted to talk with you guys about Regina." Zelena knew Regina at the moment was a sensitive topic at the moment now.

"What is it?" Cora finally seemed look interested at the mention of her younger daughter.

"Well I know this might seem wrong to you guys but I went through Regina's luggage after I stopped for a little bit to calm myself down but Regina was sleeping still so I decided to check her belongings if anything was missing" Zelena looked at her parents and saw that they were curious as to what was she talking about.

"Well I found out that, the property papers were missing from her bag" informed Zelena.

"What?" what could this mean questioned Cora to herself.

"Did you marry our daughter to someone who was after her inheritance only?" Henry whispered. It seemed clear now.

"NO!" yelled Cora. "THAT CAN'T BE".

"WELL IT IS CORA!" Henry yelled back. His anger was rising and as he was looking at Cora it was not helping at all. Zelena was just staring at her parents in fear of what would happen now. But before things could get out of hand there was knocking again at the door.

"WhAT IS IT?" yelled Cora at whoever was at the door.

"Ma'am there is someone who would like to meet you." Informed one of the maids in the house. Cora told her to tell them to wait for her.

"I should take this but we will get back on this later" Cora looked herself in mirror to see if anything was amiss. When she thought she looked appropriate she turned toward the door to leave. Henry and Zelena decided to go as well and see who it was.

(The living room)

As Cora walked upto the living room she saw two gentlemen sitting on the sofa. She knew Henry and Zelena were right behind her.

"May I help you gentlemen?" Cora asked the two.

One got up and held his hand out towards Cora to shake which she held as he introduced himself. "Hello ma'am, my name is Emmett Swan Nolan and this is my friend Ruben Red. You must be Regina Mills" he asked as he directed his eyes on Cora.

"I am sorry that is my younger daughter's name, my name is Cora Mills. I am the mayor of Storybrooke" Corrected Cora.

"Please do forgive me ma'am" apologized Emmett. "May I have a word with you daughter then?" Emmett questioned.

The three mills didn't know but to stare at this young men who just asked them to let him see Regina as if he was someone they trusted.

"Listen young men if there is something about Regina you want to share you will have to tell us before we let you talk to her by yourself" Henry didn't want anybody disturbing her daughter.

"Sigh! Very well, I only wanted her signatures on this piece of paper" he handed the paper to Cora. Cora looked at the paper and was shocked to find it was the paper out of the property file. She then handed the paper to Henry.

Emmett and Ruben couldn't ignore the surprising looks that were getting directed at them from three people in front of them.

"Is something the matter?" this time Ruben decided to speak.

"How were you able to get your hands on this paper?" Zelena asked them as she held up the paper in front of them.

"Listen ma'am we can not discuss the transactions of our clients with anyone outside of our company" Ruben tried to tell them.

"My daughter will not sign this" Cora concluded.

"We won't leave until this paper is signed ma'am" Emmett said to Cora as he stared her down.

"The file you have in you hand belonged to my daughter and it was taken from her with fraud" Cora tried to reason. She didn't want to create a scene this situation needed to be handle with delicate steps.

"I am sorry to hear that ma'am but that has nothing to do with me or my company I am just here to get this paper signed so if you could please call your daughter here and let her sign this paper this whole mess will be over with" Emmett didn't need to deal with the emotional drama from this family.

"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? MY DAUGHTER WILL NOT DO IT SO YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE!" Henry had enough of this; he wanted these people out of his house.

"Daddy what is going on?" every one turned themselves towards the stairs and saw Regina standing on the last step and looking worried as she started at everyone but when her eyes landed on Emmett they were wide with shock.

"You! Who do you think you are? What are you doing in my house? Are you stalking me now?" Regina couldn't believe this guy. He seemed to let himself in everywhere she went to and now even her home.

"Listen, I am here for Regina Mills so please if you know where she is could you bring out so she can sign this paper" he grabbed the paper out of Zelena's hand and showed it to Regina.

"That's my sister Regina Mills" Zelena told him, ending his search for Regina Mills. 'Great! No awesome! This was exactly what I needed first her crazy family and now her being Regna Mills. This could not be any better' Emmett thought to himself as he his eyes went to Regina.

The next scene was shocking now..Regina was tearing the paper piece by piece letting all her anger out on the poor piece of paper that was related to her property.

"Wh-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Emmett screamed at her as she looked down on the floor where the paper was shredded to nothing.

"Now you need to leave before I call the police" Regina spoke back she stood in front of him with confidence. Emmet couldn't help with clench his hand in a fist. Ruben was holding back his clenched hand so he wouldn't make a mistake he will regret later.

"No I will be the one going to the police now" Emmett fought back as looked down at Regina and turned around to leave the mansion with Ruben behind him.

"Are you sure that was wise little sister?" Asked Zelena.

"There was no need for that Regina" Cora wanted to handle the situation calmly not by fueling a fight.

"Your mother is right you shouldn't have done that" Henry agreed with Cora.

"It doesn't matter now what was done is now done and if he wants to bring the court in then he can" with that Regina went back to her room. Now they had a new problem do deal with.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello guys, so i decided to make few changes to the story starting from this chapter. The plot is still the same so i hope you guys enjoy it! thank you...:)

Chapter 14

SMACK!

Emmett threw the file on the table of his hotel room in anger.

"I can't believe that girl. How dare she treat me as such?" he loosened his tie and popped open the neck button of his purple shirt in anger.

"hmm" Ruben just chuckled at Emmett behavior which resulted in him being glared at by his friend.

"Exactly whose side are you on here Ruben?" Emmett just kept glaring at his childhood friend.

"Dude…"

"Dude what? Ruben! HUH?" asked Emmett.

"What I don't get is why is she bothering you so much? You have never let someone be up in your mind for long. The day you bumped into her you been acting strange Em" Ruben retorted back.

"Trust me its definitely not her. I would never waste my time on her. I am bothered by the fact that she seems to be everywhere I am all the time. Whenever I try to go somewhere I see her or rather bump into her then she's wherever I am going to like what the hell is going on!?" Emmett finally spoke of his troubles as he was sitting on the sofa and looked up at his friend who was standing next to him with his hand on his shoulder.

" Hey dude, that is nothing to be bothered about. For second there though it looked like you were falling for this girl" at that Emmett quickly got up to lie on the bed.

"Well are you?" Ruben tried to pry into his mind.

"As if that will ever happen. The only thing I need from her is her land" he said while getting up to sit on the bed.

Ruben came to the bed to sit beside Emmett. "haha good! But how will you do that now since she murdered the paper in front of your eyes" Ruben reminded him. When he received no response from Emmett he offered, "We can try going there again and see maybe by tomorrow they are calm enough to work with us".

"Okay, but if I end up dealing with what I dealt with today then you know what will happen" he was going to give this one more chance just one more.

"Alright boss" Ruben confirmed, "Now lets eat some dinner. I am starving."

(At the Mansion)

Dinner time. Everyone was already at the table. Even Regina. Cora had decided to sent her dinner up to her room, she and the rest of the family assumed she might not want to come down for dinner either since she been up in her room all day since she came. But now she was having dinner with her family like normal.

Nobody said a word. Everybody was just so engrossed into his or her food.

"How does it feel to be back at the family dinner after being married for one day dearie?" Gold directed his question at Regina.

"Gold!" Cora tried to keep her voice down as she glared at Gold letting him know to shut his mouth. He just got up and left the table.

After that no one else said anything. Cora glanced at her daughter and saw that she hadn't even touched her food.

"Why aren't you eating my dear?" Henry seemed to notice the same thing also.

"Um-uh- I don't feel hungry Daddy" Regina said but didn't look up from her plate. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find Zelena looking at her.

"Are you all right little sis?" asked Zelena.

"I'm good" Regina tried to end their worry.

For next few minutes everyone just tried to finish up their food but Regina still didn't touch her food not even a little bit. Afterwards they decided to go sit around the sofas in the living room. Cora and Henry were sitting on the sofa right in front of the sofa where Zelena and Regina were sitting; a table taking up the space in between.

"Um would now be a good time to talk about what happened, Regina?" as always Cora was the one to break the ice.

"Cora we can talk about that tomorrow or some other time" Henry tried to push the problem away. Cora ignored him and just looked at her daughter who still wasn't looking at them, she hasn't since she came home.

"I-I-I am sorry mother but I don't know what to tell you. All I know is that Robin and I spend the night together in the same room at the hotel but the next morning him and Marian were gone. There was no sign of them and nobody else seem to know anything either" that was all she knew and every time she thought about the hotel she couldn't help but cry. Zelena held her sister to herself and stroked her hair slowly.

"Wha- what? What do you mean you spent the night with him and then he just left?" that wasn't enough that didn't tell her anything at all.

"We need to let the police know Cora. They weren't here to take Regina to New York. They only wanted her property that they sold to Mr. Emmett for money. They made a fool out of us and did fraud of marriage with our daughter" Henry desperately wanted the people who hurt his little girl to be punished.

"She spent the night with him" Cora whispered to no one.

Henry looked at her all confused. "What are you talking about?" as Zelena let go her and Henry were looking back and forth between Cora and Regina, Cora was looking at Regina but Regina still wasn't looking up at anyone.

"Regina! Di-Did you sleep with Robin?" there was no love in Cora's voice when she asked.

"CORA!" Henry couldn't believe what he was hearing from his wife. He looked at his little girl who was shaking and crying.

"REGINA! Answer me!" Cora feared the answer she wanted to know but then didn't want to know at the same time.

"I- sob-I gave –sob-Yes! I gave myself to him mother. H—h-h-he's my husband" she kept wiping the tears on her face as she tried looking at her mother.

Cora got up and went up to Regina, she stood in front of Regina while Regina kept trying to look at the her mother at which she kept failing but Cora just stared down at her.

"Cora we need to do go to the police and warn them about Robin and Marian" Henry tried to change the topic.

"If you become pregnant with his child, you will get it aborted. I will not have you ruin our reputation, and I won't let another mistake happen right in front of my eyes" Cora forced out.

"Mother! How can you be worrying about that instead of your daughter?" Zelena spoke up.

"Cora I don't care about no reputation, I only care about my little princess so should you be" Henry tried to put some sense into her but all the received was her strutting herself out of the living room to her bedroom.

"Regina" Henry grabbed his daughter and got her up to hug her. Regina cried even harder in his embrace. "She hates me now daddy"

"No she doesn't. She just needs time. How about you guys also go up and rest up we will talk tomorrow. Alright!" with that he left Regina in Zelena's care.

"Lets go to bed little sis" Zelena grabbed her hand together they both walked up the stairs. 'Pregnant huh' Zelena said to herself as she took one last glance at her sister.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

(The Next morning..)

'What if she does get pregnant?' Zelena thought to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about this since last night's conversation. Without thinking she started rubbing her own stomach as she was looking out the widow of her room.

"What are you thinking about ?" Gold asker her as he came out of the bathroom after checking himself in the mirror. He noticed where her hand was and he knew she might be thinking about the past.

"B..ae.." Zelena let out the name so slowly as if it was not to be spoken.

This was what he was afraid of he didn't want to talk about 'Bae' he couldn't get over the guilt of losing their son. "Zelena please not now" Gold said breaking apart inside.

Zelena came over to him and hugged him. She wanted to be held right now which was what Gold did as he put his arms around her and try to provide his comfort to her. But what he heard got him to stop breathing for a while, "Regina might become pregnant." Zelena whispered in his ear as she pulled herself on her feet to look at Gold.

Gold had no words to say. This was very unexpected and new. "H-how?"

"Her and Robin slept together on their honeymoon night" Zelena said the obvious.

Gold straighten himself up and smiled a little. "That won't be very pleasing to Cora" he imagined. And he was right when he saw Zelena nodding.

"Sigh! I want a child too, Gold!" Zelena said with hope in her eyes. Gold has been against having another baby after what happened with 'Bae'. But she wanted to move from that even though it was painful to do so but she wanted to fill this empty void now.

"Zelena, w-w-we c-can't after what happened!" Gold still didn't want to. He didn't want to move on because he didn't know how.

"I know, I know it's hard to do this but we can't keep dwelling on the past. I want to have another child, Gold. Please I can't take this emptiness inside me anymore. I want to be a mother again" she pleaded with Gold. He looked at her and found that she was really serious and sincere about the thought of another child.

"Alright! I-I-I'll think about it" he was again embraced into another hug this time he couldn't help but smile into his wife's shoulder.

"REGINA! REGINA! COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW"

"Why is Cora yelling?" asked Gold as he looked at Zelena who looked confused as well.

"Lets go see what is the mater!" Zelena said following out of her room with Gold behind her. As her and Gold were about to go down the stairs she heard Regina's door unlock and open. She looked on the other side of the stairs and saw Regina come out of her room dressed in a casual red dress with her hair tied behind.

As all three of them got down the stairs and into the living room. Cora looked at them one by one until her stare stopped at Regina. "What took you so long? I was told that a maid had already informed you of to get ready to leave?" Cora asked Regina.

"I am sorry mother. It won't happen again" she didn't want her mother know that she just couldn't bring herself down so she just sat on her bed and kept thinking until she heard Cora yell her name.

"We need to leave right now. You can eat when we come back from the appointment" she had wasted enough time waiting for her.

"Surely you can let her eat something before you go dearie" Gold interrupted in.

"There is no need. We should leave already mother" Regina wanted to be away from another drama that might take place if she stayed longer.

The rest of the Mills family watched them go out of the mansion entrance and went to sit on the table to eat when they were out of eyesight.

(Em &amp; Red)

"I miss New York already" Ruben whined out while they were having breakfast in the hotel.

"Don't worry, we are only here until this gets solved" Emmett encouraged. The food seemed to be okay here since both of them barely were eating much out of their plates.

"What if this doesn't get solved, Em?" Ruben wondered. He really didn't want to waste his time anymore. He missed Belle so much.

"You know you can call your girlfriend if you are going to whine like a little girl" Emmett laughed at his friends suffering.

"She's not my girlfriend!" he was full on blushing now so he covered his face so his Emmett couldn't see him like this.

"haha you better hurry before someone snatches her away from your charms" Emmett snickered. His friend was so easy to tease.

"Since when did you start making jokes Mr. Loveless" Ruben commented back.

"Is that what the girls at the office calling me now?" he asked in amusement.

"Well yeah, why wouldn't they? You barely have any love life. I mean how long has it been since you dated anyone?" It was now Ruben's turn to laugh at his friend.

When nobody said anything, he looked to his friend and saw that he was deep in thought. 'Lily?' he guessed.

"Are you thinking about her?... Lily ?" Ruben questioned out loud.

"We need to get ready!" 'He's trying to avoid talking about it again. How many times will you do this Em. But not today!'

"You can't avoid it forever Em" he pleaded with his friend to let him in, to let him know his pain.

"There is nothing to avoid Ruben. I told you and everyone else too I don't want to talk about her or even speak of her name but I think you forgot" Forgetting was hard but much better to do then to bother yourself with pain.

"Look man, I am sorry but not talking about it will only eat you alive. You know you can trust me so why won't you tell me what exactly happened with her" He wants to know more than 'I broke up with her' when clearly it was much more than that since there were so many differences in Emmett's behavior and activities. He started spending all his time in work, the only time he would be social would be when there are office meetings, and he stopped hanging out with his friends. He started spending more time at the office then at home with his parents. He was becoming workaholic after his break up with Lily as if trying to forget something.

"S-She CHEATED ON ME MAN!" grrrrr-groan "She was only with me for the money" low chuckle "I was going to propose to her the night I caught her cheating on me fucking some random dude on our bed in our apartment that we got together…" Emmett couldn't help but punch the wall at the images of his ex cheating.

"Shit man, I am so sorry"

"Ha…it doesn't matter anymore. I am just glad I didn't make the biggest mistake of my life by marrying her" they both smiled to each other a little at the comment.

"But you know just because your ex cheated on you doesn't mean you should stop dating other people" Ruben tried to cheer up his friend and his life.

"Enough with your shit Ruben we need to leave for Mills mansion" he reminded him.

"Yeah I know, lets go"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

(Back at the Mansion..)

It didn't take much time at the doctor's office. They were taken care of right away when they came in. Her mother did use her power over the town whenever she wanted to and it didn't matter where either. It's been few minutes since they cam back from her appointment. They were having another family meeting but Gold wasn't home since he was working at the shop. They were back in the living room. Regina might as well start calling it the "meeting room".

"Mother the waiting is killing me already. Would you please tell us what the doctor said?" Zelena was getting annoyed with all the waiting.

"Cora?" Henry spoke….uncertain.

"The doctor said since it was her first time and it happened just recently the results will take time. But there are high chances of her being pregnant" Cora cleared out the confusion.

"Oh" was all Zelena said. They were all quite, which was making Regina nervous again until a maid came in to interrupt their meeting.

"Excuse me Mrs. Mills, but it seems like the guest from tomorrow are back again" that got all their attention to each other because they were all just staring at each other as if to see if they all thought the same thing. There guessing game was over when came in Emmett and Ruben into their living room meeting.

"What are you doing back here again? I thought you were going to involve the police?" Cora questioned as she got up from the sofa and stood in front of Emmett.

"I know yesterday didn't went well for both of us but I would like to propose a deal"

Emmett said with hope. Cora looked up into his eyes to see if he was playing games with her.

"And what deal would that be?" Cora further questioned, as she found no deceit in his eyes.

"Well we thought maybe all of us can sit down and come up with one that will benefit us" this time it was Ruben who spoke about the deal.

"Very well please take a seat" there was another empty sofa in front of the two sofas that were occupied by Cora, Henry, Regina and Zelena.

The four mills were looking right at the two gentlemen that made Ruben nervous but when he looked at his friend he was acting his usual business like self.

"I would like it if we can find a way where I will be able to get full access to this land so I can start my constructing there as soon as possible. That will be possible if I can get that last paper signed and was torn in pieces" Emmett said as he looked at Regina who was looking right him when he mentioned her actions from yesterday. They kept staring at each other until Cora interrupted in.

"What about the deal you mentioned earlier?"

"Well that depends on what you want it to be. I only want to find a way where I get full access to this property and you are also able to get something out of it in the process. I am ready to pay money it that is the problem" Emmett offered.

"No no no no! Money is not the problem" Cora assured him. "But could you give me few minutes. I need to talk to my husband". She looked back at Henry gesturing him to follow her out of the living room to their room.

(C &amp; H Room)

Henry closed the door behind him when he came in. "Cora what is the meaning of this?"

"I think this is a good opportunity" Cora said with hope in her eyes as she looked at Henry.

Henry put his hands on her shoulder "For what?" Cora put her hands on his hands.

"If Emmett wants the land then he needs to marry Regina. We can offer that deal" at the admission of Cora, Henry's hands started to move down off her shoulders.

"Are thinking about selling off our daughter because of some land. What about her pregnancy? Huh?" he won't let Cora do this to their daughter.

"I was going to have the baby aborted anyways if she was going to becom pregnant. My daughter will not be mother without a father and husband by her side. But now she can have a start new" Cora was really considering this and she seem to be happy with the thought itself.

"Have you gone mad Cora?!" Henry whisper yelled at Cora.

"Listen Henry this is my best decision for our daughter. You can't stop me from going through with it" with that she walked out of the room leaving Henry behind.

(Meeting Room)

Since Cora left with Henry neither the guest said a word nor the girls to each other or anybody else. Cora was taking her time so was Henry.

"I am sorry for the wait, my apologizes" finally Cora was back at least. Henry seemed to be still in the room.

"So…do we have a deal ready?" Emmett asked, curious.

"Well that depends on if you will agree to what I have to say" Cora finished. When she received a nod from Emmett she continued "If you want the property then you will have to marry the said person the papers belong to in other words you will have to marry Regina" four pair of eyes were looking at her with shock and surprise.

"Mother you can't do this. I won't marry him" Regina gave her decision.

"I only care about what Emmett has to say" Cora said, ignoring her daughter completely.

She looked at Emmett waiting for his reply. "Are you making a deal with me by selling your daughter to me Mrs. Mills?" Emmett chuckled as he looked at Regina who looked pretty furious.

"If that's how you want to see it then you can" it didn't matter how it was looked at she just wanted to secure Regina's future.

Since they were all standing by now from the new development, Emmett walked up and stood in front of Regina as he stared down at her into her eyes. He could see the anger in those brown chocolate eyes. He then grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him so she in reflex put out her arm on the side his chest to stop herself from fully leaning on him. One of his hands was grabbing her wrist while the other was on her back pulling their bodies closer. Their faces were really close, their noses were touching and their lips were inches away from touching. But neither stopped looking into each other's eyes. Regina was finding herself being lost in those greenish pools of swirl so was Emmett. Then all of a sudden all contact was lost from Regina's body. She didn't know if it was a dream or what but when she looked in front of her she saw him looking at her but now it seemed liked they were miles away from each other.

"Do you think this low of me Mrs. Mills? That I will say yes to a shitty deal like this. You know what you can keep your property to your self I have had enough of this nonsense with you people. Lets go Ruben" with that Emmett didn't waste another minute in Mills mansion and they were gone.

The three women just stood there all frozen at what just happened.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"How can you even think about marrying me to him, mother. I am still married to Robin and I am certain if we try we can find out what actually happened with him" Regina requested.

Regina was glad that Emmett left the way he did. For a second there she believed he was about to agree to her mother's terms, which was absurd since she was still married to Robin and might be carrying his child.

"Wa-wait, what did you intend to do if I did became pregnant!" Regina looked at her with horrified eyes she hoped that her mother didn't intend for to throw away the child or worse kill it before it was even born.

"Little sis, I think you should go upstairs to your room. I'll handle mother" Zelena advised to Regina. But it looked like Regina wasn't having any of that.

"No….NO! just no…you couldn't have possibly thought about killing my unbornchild. How dare you mother?" she yelled at Cora. She walked upto her mother to look straight into her eyes to see if her mother's intensions regarding her baby were true. She knew there was still time for it to certain but she will not sit and here wait for her mother to have something planned if it did came to that.

"OH MY GOD! You are a mother yourself. How could you?" Regina got her answer without Cora uttering a word out.

" SILENCE! Little girl" Cora had enough of Regina's outburst.

"Mother please don't do this!" Zelena warned.

"Zelena stay out of this. This has nothing to do with you so might as well leave us so I can have a word with your little sister" she didn't need anyone telling her what do or not too. So Zelena decided to listen to her mother and leave Regina to her fate as she went back to her room.

"Now that we are alone lets talk about this" said Cora as she sat down on the sofa and indicating Regina to do the same on the other sofa.

Regina spoke up "Mother its still not certain that if I am indeed pregnant with his child, shouldn't we focus on finding Robin instead?"

"Is that so? And how are we going to do that when there is no proof of him being taken somewhere without his will. Let me tell you what happened exactly, he decided to marry you because of the money he was going to gain by selling your property that was in the possession of Emmett. Robin had no intention of taking you to New York with him that is why he left you at the hotel all alone after sleeping with you. He. Used. You. Regina!" she made sure to emphasize on her last words. She had to get Regina to see where things were headed for her if she didn't take precautions now.

Regina on the other hand was letting every single word sink into her mind trying her very hardest to deny this logic which seemed to make all the sense now that she was thinking about it.

Cora got up walked few paces to other side of the room to stand in front of the sitting Regina. She put her hands around her daughter's head and hugged it to her stomach and started stroking her hair.

"My sweet sweet daughter, its pointless to look for Robin when we know it was his plan to betray you. There is no point of looking for him now. Right now all I can do for you is to secure your future. Me marrying you to Robin turned into a big mistake but I won't make another mistake. If you want to have a better future for yourself then you to do what is necessary even if getting rid of a baby if it came to that" Cora finished as she felt her daughter shaking. Regina was crying again.

"How-how can you even consider that I…I-I will be willing enough to do this? No mother, if I did became pregnant with his child I will keep it no matter what" she broke out of her Cora's arms, she wanted her mother right now not the mayor who always told everyone what was right for them.

"She's right Cora enough is enough. You thought marrying her to Robin that quickly was the right thing to do look at where it got her" both turned around to see Henry had come out the room to join them.

Henry noticed the tears in his daughter's eyes, the sight broke his heart. 'I have to help her'.

"Do you realize what will happen if we let her give birth to this child without a father. I have worked so hard to create a reputation for myself in this town, the people here respect me now. None of that will be anymore if they find out the mayor's daughter is pregnant with no husband by her side" she tried to reason with them again.

"I can't! I can't do this right now" with that Regina ran to her room.

"Was that what you wanted? Because its not even certain that she's indeed pregnant and you are already putting pressure on her" Henry asked her as they both looked at Regina's retreating back. When he turned to his side he noticed that Cora was already walking away from him.

"Cora don't walk away from me!"

"Then what do you want Henry?" Cora asked him.

"Sigh…..I want you to let Regina decide her life from now on. I think you have done enough damage to her with Robin" Henry knew what he was saying won't be taken lightly.

"How dare you to tell how to treat my daughter?" Cora walked back to him anger clearly on her features. "I know what I am doing and its what's best for her!" she quickly finished.

'At least it was worth a try to change her mind' thought Henry. "She's also my daughter and I will do what's best for her too"

"Henry ugh you have to understand that this the only option for Regina to have a safe future ahead of her without Robin or part of Robin being in it"

They both decided to sit down for now and letting the situation sink into their minds.

"Cora, dear, please! Don't make her hate you for this too. She needs you as her mother not as the mayor of Storybrooke. Please try to be de there for her right now" Henry pleaded as he held her hands in his. But Cora wasn't having any of this so she released her hands from Henry's grasp and got up to leave.

"I'll do anything necessary to insure her future, even if it means her hating me for the rest of her life" with that she walked away leaving Henry speechless on the sofa.

After the marriage the Mills family has been falling…

"Ah Sir Henry, what is with the gloomy face? Is something the matter?" asked Gold as he came into the living room to go to his room after returning from work.

"Uh-um no..nothing…just uh thinking that is all" Henry said. "I thought you were coming in home much later, why are you early today?"

"Well I just decided to close the shop early and just wanted to come home to my wife" Gold said with a sweet smile on his face. But Henry didn't believe him but he also didn't want to get into Gold's business he had other things to worry about.

"Very well, Zelena's in the room already. I'll see you for dinner later" with that Henry left.

"Will do, sir Henry" Gold said out load to no one. He also started walking out of the living room to go see Zelena.

(Em &amp; Red)

Emmett and Ruben had just returned to the hotel from the Mill's mansion. Now they were walking to their room.

"Em?...Emmett!"

"WHAT!?"

"Chill dude you don't have to yell at me. Look now people walking by are looking at us" they both stopped and looked around to see few people staring. Emmett just ignored them and kept on walking, Ruben right behind him.

"Close the door" Emmett ordered. He then went to use the service phone to order some beer.

"Um-did you just order us a beer while on a business trip?" Ruben asked as he was taking off his coat, then he sat down on a chair.

"Yes! Do you have any problem with that?" Emmett grumbled out, he took off his tie and threw it on the bed and again popped open the neck button and few more.

Ruben just sighed at his friend's mood it was going to take a while to calm him down or get anything through his head. "Nope".

There was the awkward silence that Ruben hated so much. 'He's pacing around the room and its driving me crazy from just watching him….. Ahh man why do I always agree to come with him on his little outings' Ruben groaned inside.

"So…..Em?" he decided to break the awkward silence. His eyes were on his friend moving along with him from left to right, left to right.

"Okay stop! You are driving me crazy here. Can you just say what you want to say already!" at that Emmett came to a stop, he walked up to the bed and sat down. As he was about to speak a knock came in.

"Yes?" Emmett then spoke up.

"Room service, your order is here sir" a man spoke from the other side of the door.

Ruben quickly was up on his feet and walked to the door to open it and greet the man. He then came back with there drinks in his hands and sat on the table in front his seat.

"Just hand me the can" Ruben grabbed one for himself and handed the other to Emmett. Again silence came over them.

"We are going back to NY tomorrow, so book the flight!" Emmett drowned the whole can in one swing after stating that out.

"Look I know you are upset about what happened at the Mills but I thought you wanted that land"

"DAMN right I wanted that land before but not anymore. Can you believe that women? What kind of mother is she? And what's with the whole family? I never thought she would say something like that. Why would she sell her daughter like that to me over some land?" all these questions were bothering him to no end. He also couldn't stop thinking about those chocolate brown eyes of hers, so gentle filled with fear and sadness. He wanted to stare in them for forever. He wanted to see them filled with love and happiness not with fear and sadness. 'Wait a minute! Love? What is happening to me?' Emmett questioned himself. 'Must be the alcohol' he figured. As he looked at the empty can in his hand.

"I know man, it shocked me too. I didn't think today would end up like this. You are right maybe we should just leave this alone and go back" Ruben's voice got Emmett back into the present and to what they were discussing.

"I am going to lay down, wake me up when dinner is here" Emmett threw the can in the trash and took his shirt and shoes off to rest.

"You got it, boss" Ruben didn't move from his spot he sat there deciding to enjoy the beer in his hand.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Knock…Knock…..Knock!

"Go away!"

"Little sis?" Zelena just opened the door. She saw Regina standing over her bed where there was her luggage with clothes in it. Regina stopped packing and turned toward her door where Zelena was standing.

"What are you doing?" Zelena closed the door behind her as she asked.

"What does it look like?! I am packing. I can't stay here, I have to leave" Regina answered.

"You can't leave Regina. Mother will be furious and she won't let you leave" Zelena tried to change her mind.

"It doesn't matter anymore. And what did you come in here for?" she tried to change the subject.

"I came in to ask you again to come down for dinner. You didn't come the first time one of the maid's asked you for dinner…..I am serious Regina, don't do anything stupid" Zelena knew her sister can be quite stubborn when she wanted to be. But she feared what their mother would do if Regina did something stupid.

"I won't don't worry." Regina assured her. "And I don't want anything to eat, I don't feel hungry" at the admission Zelena started checking her sister's forehead to see if she was coming down with a fever or something. "Are you feeling alright little sis?"

Regina just pushed Zelena's hand away "It's nothing just tired".

"Oh uh okay" Regina just stared at her sister in question trying to figure out the sudden change in her tone.

"Well then you should rest I can ask someone to bring you the food to your room if you like?!"

"No that's okay. I really don't feel like eating at all" after hearing that Zelena left Regina's room to the dinning room.

(Em &amp; Red)

"I am glad you ordered a take out from another place, the food here is horrible" they both had just finished eating their take out food from an Italian restaurant from few miles away from the hotel. Emmett was really pleased with the food.

"I am just glad you are in your good mood again" Ruben could deal with so much but didn't really want to spend the night babysitting an angry Swan.

Emmett just laughed at his comment. "Phew!..I just feel sorry for her. But I never imagined that her mother would take me to be that kind of a man. Do I look that low of a person to you?"

"Hell no! You are not that type of a man Emmett; I have known you all my life. I know you better than that woman. She must be out of her mind for saying that or much worse crazy. Just let it go man. We are leaving tomorrow anyways" he was glad to be out of this mess.

"You are right but for some reason I can't stop thinking about her. When I was holding her, her eyes were trying to speak to me I just don't know what were they saying. Ughhh man I can't get her eyes out of my mind. I want her out of my head, out of my life!" Emmett got up and started pacing again.

"For goodness sake would you stop pacing already" Ruben screamed at him. "Look we will be out of here tomorrow I was able to book a night flight for us so lets go to bed and sleep for now maybe then if you slept you can stop thinking so damn much" Ruben suggested.

Emmett didn't say anything he just decided to take his advice and go to bed.

On the other side of the town, the Mills mansion was also sound asleep except for Regina.

'I don't care what Zelena says or what mother thinks. I need to get out of here as soon as possible. But….how?' Regina was trying her best to come up with a plan to escape from her mother's grasp. "I was able to hold off Zelena but if mother came to know, she will definitely imprison me here" she predicted her future.

" Ughhh" groan "surely marrying him isn't the only way out of here!" she started thinking about Emmett. She knew if she let her mother do whatever she wished she will not be happy with the results.

"I guess the only way to go about it is to run away and try finding Robin" that was her only option for now.

Thud! "You sure that is a wise thing to do!" at the sound of her door closing, she looked at it, she saw her father standing there.

"Daddy"

"Regina, my baby" Henry came up to her and just hugged her.

Regina hugged him back. "Daddy, you know I can't do what she wants me to do, it's not right".

They broke out of their loving hug. Henry looked at his daughter and said "I know it is not the right thing to do but what about your future?"

"Don't you worry daddy, I will find a way to look for Robin. I hope you also don't believe what mother said about him" if she wasn't going to her mother by her side then she needed her father by her side.

Henry sighed and sat down on her bed. He also didn't want to believe Cora but it made sense after how they found their daughter. "Regina I do believe that Cora is at least right about betraying you" he wanted her to accept the truth as well.

"So…y-y-you believe her?" she sat down by Henry and put her hands on her face trying to hide the tears that were coming out of her eyes. Henry tried to comfort her but she pushed him away. "Good night, daddy. You can go now" that was all she said.

Henry tried one more time to comfort his daughter but as he was about to reach for her he stopped and got up to leave.

When Henry was gone, Regina lost it and broke down with more tears. "W-why daddy? Why? Y-you were my last hope. Why did you take her side?" she cried out as she fell on her bed and let the tears out.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Emmett and Ruben left the next night to New York, never again trying to negotiate with the Mills again, the few times were enough for them to conclude that the family was completely insane. Especially after the visits they learned that the family was pretty involved with the affairs of the town and they just felt bad for the people for being under that types of people. So forgetting the land and moving on they left the Mills, hoping to never see any of them again.

As for the Mills family, Regina couldn't find the courage to run away. So she was dealing with her mother's suggestions all the time as to what to do for her future now instead of searching for anything related to Robin and Marian. After a week and reassuring her mother fears; Regina went behind her mother to the sheriff of the town, Graham, to help her on anything related to Robin or Marian. With the help of Graham, she was able to learn about a person who was in contact with Robin so she asked for Robin's number from the anonymous individual. The number didn't seem familiar and seemed like an out of country number. One evening, shed decided to call on the said number but nobody picked up the phone on the other line, she tried several times yet the same thing happened, no one seem to pick up the phone. Regina finally gave up and decided to go to bed. She decided to leave it up for later.

(Regina, after two weeks or so)

'Pick up…Pick up… Pick up!' Regina chanted in her mind as other side of the phone kept on going into a ringtone.

"Hello, who is this?" spoke a female on the other line.

The voice seemed familiar, almost like Marian's voice. Gasp! "Marian its Regina!"

The other line got all quite after Regina spoke her name.

"I know its you Marian! Please don't hang up the phone!" pleaded Regina to the other woman.

"I see." Silence. "Where did you get this number Regina?" asked Marian on the other side.

"It doesn't matter, what matter is where are you guys? I have been trying to search for you guys for about 2 weeks or so. But there's no sign of you or Robin. What I really want to know is where is Robin and when is he going to come get me from here?" demanded Regina.

"ha-hah-hahaha-haha, oh god! Foolish Regina! Have you not yet figured out what happened?" Marian received no response. "Then allow me to tell you, my dear. You see all along you were just a toy for us Regina, we didn't want you but your property that was all there is to it. Oh and FYI my dear, if you are wondering about your marriage to Robin, don't worry it was fake, EVERYTHING WAS FAKE!" Marian explained. Again she didn't receive no words but a gasp and sounds of crying.

Regina couldn't believe this she was hoping her mother was wrong about them but it turned out she was right. She didn't know what to say or think. All she could do was cry and cry as she held the phone to her ear.

"Please spare me the drama, Regina. All we wanted from you was your property. And I assure you and your mother dearest the marriage was fake because Robin is already married to me. And of course its not like you guys consummated your fake marriage… ha-haha-ha.." Marian knew that Robin was attracted to Regina but there was no way that he would cheat on her.

"I-am…sob… ppre-gnant with his…sob… child" Regina let out while trying her hardest to control her emotions. "We spelt together on that night at the hotel" Regina informed her. Cora decided to go back to the doctor after a week since there last visit and it was confirmed she is with a child. While Regina was feeling happy and afraid at the same time, Cora was furious with the news, she forced the doctor to abort the baby right there and then. But the doctor didn't listen to a word she said because all cared about what Regina wanted to do from here on out. Of course Regina decided to keep the baby, it was her last hope for Robin.

"NO…NO…n..noo, that…th…at…can't…be. Surely you are lying, making….this up to make us come back" Marian let out, she didn't want to believe Regina. She trusted Robin. "NO….i wont believe another word you say Regina, so its better you never call this number again. Good bye!" with that the line goes dead. Leaving Regina speechless and shocked.

Another night, with tears, with pain, and heartache. The hope that was in her heart now crushed and burned to ashes. All she could feel was the heartache from her broken heart. This opportunity was her last hope from escaping from her mother's cruel intentions towards her and her unborn child. The exhaustion and sleep was taking over her tired body, so she decided to go to sleep. _'I will protect this baby from my mother no matter what!'_ was her last thought before closing her eyes.

(Somewhere in Europe; in a penthouse)

"Who was on the phone?" asked Robin as he walked out of the shower.

Marian didn't respond, she was still in shock of what she has learned about Regina. Then she felt Robin's arm circle around her waist from behind as he started peppering kisses on her neck. "Hey you alright?" asked Robin again as he turned Marian around to face him. he noticed the shocked expression on her face and got worried as he was about to ask her again what was wrong. Marian spoke up.

"She's…..pregnant" spoke Marian with a weak voice. At this point Robin was confused he had no clue who she was taking about. "Who's pregnant? What are you talking about Marian?" he was about to touch her face when he felt Marian smack his hand away and got out of his embrace to sit down on the bed.

"Regina!...it was her on the phone, I..I don't know where she got your number from but she's declaring that you guys spend your honeymoon that night at the hotel and…..and she's….she's with your child…" Marian explained then. She didn't want to believe what she had learned but the only way she could make it sure was from confirming the truth from Robin himself. She then looked up at him, he still standing at the same spot and had a shocked expression on his face. She got up and stood in front of him, trying to see what he was thinking but all she could see was he staring back at her with a shocked expression as hers.

Then she felt his hands on her shoulders. "I swear to you Marian that I did not sleep with her. You have to believe me" as he said this he tried looking into his wife's eyes to make sure she believed him. Marian just shook his hands away and moved across him to stand few feet away from him with her back facing Robin.

"I hope you are not lying Robin. I hope that child in her isn't yours. But I also can't deny the fact that you did indeed spend the night with her. It seems reasonable that she could be pregnant with your child" Marian concluded when she thought back to the time.

At that Robin turned but was faced with Marian's back to him. He knew he couldn't let Marian know the truth; it would ruin everything for them. But he also kept thinking about that night where he just couldn't control his urges and make Regina his with his body and soul. He did come to realization that it was wrong but it was too late. He won't let that mistake come between him and Marian.

"Baby" he went up to her and hugged her from behind again. "Believe me when I say this, I did not sleep with her. You know you are the only one for me. I have always loved you from my heart no one else. You are the only one I need and want." At the admission he felt Marian relax into his embrace. "I am sure she is lying and making this up to make us come back, they are trying to deceive us like we did them. You know that was the only way things could have gone, we needed that land no matter what the consequences. So lets please enjoy our freedom from that debt and relax while we here…hmmm"

"I believe you Robin. I knew you would never betray me like that. I am sorry I doubted you because of her" Marian turned and faced him with a small smile on her face. "Now lets enjoy our vacation". She then felt Robin pick her up bridal style and took her to bed. As he layed her down and moved on top of her she could see the hunger and love in his eyes. There was no other better way to forget about your worries than what was about to happen.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The next morning for Regina was horrible. Cora was again lecturing her about, how a baby would ruin her future for another marriage in a suitable family. She wanted Regina to get rid of the obstacle in their way. She didn't care about her feeling at all. Didn't even try to notice how her daughter looked so exhausted and worn out with everything that was happening. The family had gather around in the living room after breakfast.

"Regina?" Cora called out but received no response in return. She again called out her name with a sharper tone "Regina!"

"Yes mother" Regina spoke out of her stupor.

"Have you been considering about what I have said?" questioned Cora as she looked over to her daughter.

Regina just got up and decided to leave to be alone in her room. As she was about to step on the stairs. Her tried to stop her. "Don't you dare walk away from me young lady! You will do as a command of you!" Cora spoke with a remark in her voice.

At that Regina turned to look where her mother was sitting. No one else had the guts to say anything Regina noticed which was not unusual from her cowardly family. Her sister never dared to upset mother and her husband just watched around to enjoy the show. As for her father, he never even tried to stand up to her mother all their lives. She finally decided to make her mother understand how she wanted to deal with this; she had enough of her mother ordering her around like a slave. "No mother! Not anymore! I will not do as you say anymore" Regina spoke up as she looked straight into her mother's furious eyes. "I have had enough of you demanding me. I want to keep this baby. I will not let anyone, not even you mother, take away something so precious from me" before Cora could oppose her, Regina turned around continued her walk toward her room. Leaving everyone in the room with shock on their faces.

Cora couldn't figure out where this attitude of Regina was coming from. But she knew one thing for sure, she will not sit here and let her foolish daughter ruin everything she has built for herself and her family burn to ashes.

(Regina's room)

As soon as she reached her room, she locked the door so no one could come in and interrupt her like last time. She got a luggage and started packing her clothes and some of her belongings. As soon as she had everything important she needed. She decided to call Sheriff Graham.

"Hey, Graham. Um.. it's Regina. Listen I need your help"

"yeah.,, sure what's up?" asked Graham. "I hope its not about him again. Sigh…I think you should give up on him already" when he received no response he spoke again "…Regina?"

"uh… no graham its not about Robin. But its bigger than that. I want to trust you on this 100% ….and by that I mean my mother can not know about this at all" Graham was her last hope for now, she knew none of her family members would be willing to help but she hoped that she can count on her childhood friend.

"You are my last hope Graham, I wouldn't ask you of this if it wasn't serious so I'm hoping I can confide in you fully!" Regina tried to persuade.

"Regina….sigh….you know you can trust me. We have been friends since we were babies. I would never think of betraying you. You my have my full support and trust always" Graham spoke with a soft voice.

Regina couldn't help but smile at having someone on her side. She was lucky to have someone like Graham in her life. She decided to tell Graham of her plan.

"Are you crazy?! Regina…. Are you even using your brain at the moment? You want me to drop you off at the airport in the middle of the night….so you can move to New York….do you even know what you are saying?" she could hear the uncertainty in his voice, yes it seemed like a crazy idea but there was no other way then running away from her mother and this house.

"Graham…sigh…my mother doesn't want me to become a mother without a husband by my side. I won't let her kill my unborn child" Regina tried to explain.

Silence.."Graham? Please tell me you will do this for me?" requested Regina.

"If that's the case then why don't we get married? It will solve everything." Graham proposed.

"Wh-what?" Regina couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Look I know this is not the best situation for this but Regina, I know we don't share any romantic feelings towards each other but I do care about you. If I can I would like to help you with raising this child as your husband" this was not what Regina was expecting at all.

"No…no graham I can't do this to you. I won't let you be bound to me for something you had no part of. I have always seen you as a good friend. Besides this is my responsibility and I won't let you be burden by this. Please Graham try to understand me and help me escape from here that is all I ask of you" again Regina tried to get back to her main objective.

"ha-ha…alright Regina, I won't pressure you. I just wanted to help my childhood friend. But if all you want is get away from here than I have no choice but let you have your way with this" Regina could hear the hurt in his voice but she there was no other way for her. Her heart was still set on Robin, even after learning of his betrayal. She need time to get him out of her heart and mind; she couldn't burden her friend with a child and her feelings it would be asking too much.

"Thank you Graham" Regina truly appreciated his help.

"Your welcome" she heard from the other side. "So since I am your driver, how are you handling the money part of this plan?"

"Oh well… about that..mother has always kept separate bank accounts for Zelena and me, I am just going to borrow some of that money from there" she chuckled at her disclosure.

"Oh..hahah…haha..haha wow Regina, you got some guts going behind your mother and stealing from her" she could hear him laughing.

"HEY! I am not stealing I am …just…spending what's already labeled mine" Regina spoke with a fixed tone.

"Alright.. alright. So I guess everything is set for you. Be careful Regina. This is a big step you are taking. I still think you should think about my proposal" Graham tried again.

"Hmm.., I know you are worried about me but I am sure about what I am about to do. Again thank you Graham. I'll see you soon bye!" with that she hang up the phone and laid downed on her bed.

The day dragged on which felt like forever for Regina. Cora came up to talk to her daughter but received the silent treatment from her. Regina even decided to skip lunch because she didn't feel like confronting her mother after what happened in the morning. Now it was nighttime finally and she was waiting for some one to come knock her door to call her downstairs for dinner but no one came. Which was unusual because her mother was always punctual about time and the events. So she got up and decided to go downstairs to see what was happening.

When she reached the dining room, she saw everyone was present at the table.

"Ah finally! Good for you to join us, dearie" of course gold was the first to notice her presence. Regina just ignored her and sat on her spot on the dining table that was next to

her father.

"I hope you are hungry now since you skipped lunch today" Henry asked with a worried expression on his face. She knew her father was concerned about her. She looked over to her mother and noticed how she hasn't made one comment and hasn't looked toward her at all.

"If everyone is ready lets start dinner already" Cora said acknowledging everyone but Regina.

No one said anything after that and they started their dinner without any further disruptions. After everyone was done, Cora asked everyone to gather around the living room for the second time.

"What is it this time? Mother!" Zelena decided to ask.

"Hush my child. Like we all know this is about Regina and her decision. And now would be a good time for me to know that she will make the right choice for her future" this time Cora looked at Regina.

"Mother….I have made my mind already and you know what I want so please stop hoping for anything else" Regina didn't know how to make her mother understand what she was thinking of doing was morally wrong and she will not go along with it.

"I see, I guess you leave no choice then" she looked at Henry then back at Regina.

"So here's what I will do, you will either to as I say or you will be disowned and kicked out of this house to never return again. I will seize all the money under your money and leave out there with not even in a penny in your hands" Cora finished. She noticed the shock and fear on Regina's face and hoped that this will do the trick. Henry tries to speak up to protest but she shuts him up by holding her hand up towards him before he could get even in a single word out. She didn't need her husband to ruin this for her.

"Mother, that is absolutely absurd, you can't do that to her. She's your blood" Zelena tried to intervene but Cora just ignored her.

"Regina, I don't have all night. You tell me right now and here what is your choice is now" as Cora said this she smiled, she knew her daughter will agree to her now for sure. Her silence was an indication that she was thinking about the odds here.

Regina finally found her voice and looked to her mother. "I-I-I need more time. Please mother let me think about this a little longer" Regina was hoping if she pleaded to her mother maybe she wouldn't have to give her answer right now and then.

"Darling you have had enough time to think this over and I am not about to wait any longer" Regina didn't know what to do now, she couldn't decide right now. It will ruin her plan.

"Mother, I just need at least one more day, please mother" Cora could hear the desperation in her voice. She thought maybe one more couldn't hurt.

"Sigh, alright after tomorrow you have to be ready and for whatever I demand from you. Understood?" Cora said with more authority in her voice.

"Yes mother, thank you" Regina said, feelings pleased with the outcomes. She was feeling glad she had convinced her mother for now. "I guess Ill go back to my room again, good night everyone" with that again she left to her room. _'You won't have to worry about me anymore mother, I will be out of your hair soon enough'_ Regina thought with a tiny smile on her lips, tonight she will able to sleep soundly.

Okay guys, there was one more thing I forgot to add to Emmett's intro so please forgive about that. Emmett was an orphan and that is reason for his middle name, Swan, and he was adopted into Nolan's in his teens. He will using that name as his last name more often than 'Nolan'. Thank you for reading :)


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Meanwhile in New York… the next day…

The Nolans had many five star hotels under their company and most of them that were built for other people and companies. Emmett always took advantage of that whenever he felt like he wanted to be left alone to think about certain things and just to be alone with himself for while. He loved his parents, he never gave them an opportunity to disappoint them or bring hurt to them in any way. Moreover he never forgot how much they have done for him since they adopted him. The first hotel his parents built was his favorite place to stay at, he had his own personal suite in that hotel and later on he adjusted a little space for his own personal office in it. The suite itself was two stories inside. The bottom part of it was where he worked in his little office, and had a kitchen installed where he would occasionally cook his own food, and the top part of it included his bedroom. The bedroom was his favorite of it all, it had one side all windowed from which he was able to observe the New York city and its busy people. He also had a gym equipments installed into his bedroom for his morning workouts. It was like his own personal home or apartment.

He was at his own personal homeplace laying down on his bed trying to read a business magazine; he hasn't visited his parents, who lived outside the city because they didn't want to deal with the city like anymore since they had handed down the business onto Emmett few years back. He didn't know how to face them after his trip from Stroybrooke, which was unusual for him because he would always go straight to his parents after any trip he took anywhere.

_'__What am I going to tell them? This is the first time I have been unable to complete a business deal and all because of that ungrateful girl'_ sigh….

BUZZZ BUZZZZZ BUZZZZ

The vibration of his phone got him away from his thoughts and he looked at the screen and saw Ruben's name.

"What is it?" he answered with little irritation in his voice.

"Whoa…relax. It's not even 9 in the morning and you in your grumpy mode already…..I just wanted to know how you feeling since you haven't been to your parents and it's been two weeks Em!"

"I have been…busy" was the reply from Emmett.

"Um… with what exactly because as your assistant I am sure I would know if you are busy or not" Ruben retorted back.

"Haah…I don't know how to face them. I was there to look for Robin and all I found through him was a deal that was created out of fraud. I don't know what to tell them. They trusted me with Robin and now I am going to disappoint them" explained Emmett.

"Look, it wasn't your fault. Your brother had a chance at redeeming himself for his past mistakes but he ended up making another one in the process. You couldn't have known he would do that, you trusted him and he broke your trust again"

"I think you should be straight with your parents and tell them what happened" Ruben encouraged.

"Yeah…yeah you are right. alright let me get ready then we can both head to my parents house" Emmett said as he got up from the bed to get ready.

"Alright, I am waiting in my car come down when you are done" with that Ruben hung up the phone.

_'__huh he had it planned'_

After about 20 minutes Emmett walked out of the hotel and sat in the passenger seat beside Ruben's.

"So ready to go" asked Ruben as he looked at his friend with concern.

"Yeah. I miss them I have never stayed away from them this long" sighed Emmett feeling guilty.

"I know man. Don't worry they will understand they always do" Ruben assured with a smile. "Lets go then!" with that they drove through the New York.

Back to Regina

Regina was up at 5 in the morning. She was too excited. Tonight at midnight she was going to make her escape. She couldn't be happier. She had one more thing she had to do before she leaves.

Text messaging

Regina: Hi…you there? After 5 minutes Regina received a text back.

Belle: oh hey…sorry I was doing errands, just saw your text.

Regina: oh..thats alright. Say, I need your assistance with something!

Belle: Yea sure! What is it?

Regina: I am moving to New York. So could you come pick me up? From the airport? And also maybe can I stay with you for a while until I find a job and a place for myself. I assure you I would not stay long and be a burden on you.

Belle: Regina…Don't say that. You are never a burden. How can you even say that since we been friends for so long. And I can't wait until you are here. You just made my day with this news. I haven't seen you in ages.

Regina: Oh thank you so much Belle, I appreciate it. Yea I know. It's been 3 year since you moved to New York. It would be so lovely to see you again and talk to you face to face again instead via emails, text messaging and phone calls.

Bella: True…..I am glad Cora's finally letting you out of her motherly cacoon. How did you manage to convince her?

Regina: Oh..you know she loves me so much that she wants me to be happy. Hahaha

Belle: oh hahah sure I bet she does ;) anyways I am just so happy I am going to get to see you again. I missed you so much.

Regina: I missed you too Belle, again thank you so much. I'll see you soon :) bye.

Belle: Your welcome. See you soon too. Bye :).

Now she just had to get through the day without making anyone suspicious of her plans. She didn't need anyone ruining this last opportunity for her. She decided to sleep some more.

Back to Emmett

It took them about an hour to get out of the city and about 30 minutes to reach Emmett's parents house. Both Emmett and Ruben were sitting in the living room with Emmett's parents sitting right across them on the sofas.

"Here's your water, sir" said one of the maids. She placed the two glasses of water in front of the Emmett and Ruben.

"Thank you" said Ruben. With that the maid left.

Ruben grabbed one glass and finished the water in one swing. He looked over to his friend and saw that his head was hung down and wasn't looking at his parents. Then he looked at Mary and David; they were both staring at the Emmett with concern in their eyes and over their faces.

He elbowed his friend's ribs to get his attention but Emmett didn't budge.

"So…ah.. how are you Mrs. Nolan and Mr. Nolan?" Ruben tried to start a conversation since no one was saying anything.

That's when Mary Margaret looked toward his way, and said "Ruben dear, how many times have I told you to call me Mary!…and we are doing alright. Thank you for asking"

"Okay….Mary" Ruben said with a smile. Again the room was filled with the silence.

"Where are you going? David?" David had gotten up and was about to leave when Mary caught his arm.

"Well… I don't see the point of waiting any longer. Our son doesn't even want to look at us or even talk to us" David said with disappointment in his voice as he looked at his wife then over to his son who still had his head down.

Mary got up as well; she looked at her husband and back to her son. She let go of David's arm and walked around the table to get closure to her son. Ruben just sat there just seeing everything unfold in front of his.

Mary hugged her son's head to her stomach and started caressing her son's hair. "Why are you so quite? Emmett you know you can tell us anything you want so why are you holding back this time?" asked Mary as she held Emmett's face her hands and looked down in his eyes.

Emmett just buried his face in his mother's stomach and hugged her. "I am sorry mother"

Emmett finally spoke. He let go of his mother and got up and looked at his mother straight in her eyes.

"Robin failed again to redeem for his mistakes" Emmett said as he looked down on the floor again.

"Emmett!" Emmett looked at his father who just called out his name. " I told you he will never learn, I told you to not give him anymore chances but you didn't listen to a word I said"

"David! How can you say that Robin's our son!" Mary tried to reason. She walked up to her husband and looked at him.

"Mary you know as well as everyone present in this room that Robin will never learn his lesson. He has committed many mistakes yet you overlook them all the time. In the end, it is hurting our business and us. This was his last chance to prove himself to me. I will not tolerate him anymore, he is not allowed to involve himself in our business any longer" David finished with certainty in his voice; he ignored the pleading eyes of his wife.

"Father's right mother. We can no longer keep paying for his mistakes. I thought this time he will do something right but like always it creates another issue for us and our business" Mary didn't know what to say both her husband and son were giving up on her Robin. She decided to leave the conversation for now because she couldn't handle hearing more horrible things about her older son.

"Haah….she's too soft on him" David said as he watched Mary leave. He knew there was no point in stopping her, he was going to let her be for now. He looked over to his son and decided to sit back on his spot on the other sofa.

"So what exactly happened this time" David asked as he looked at both of them.

"Robin was able to gain the property for our construction site with fraud. We didn't investigate the whole situation Em here wanted to leave as soon as possible" Ruben explained and spoke up.

David looked from Ruben to his son, waiting for his son to explain his actions.

Emmett felt his father's eyes on him and tried to explain, "Father, I am not sure how to explain this but I was unable to go through this transaction. Our client was unwilling to sell her property. Not to mention her whole family was acting insane and I didn't want to bother myself with that kind of people. I thought with a little push I would be able to make a deal with them but that backfired on us" sigh "it was horrible"

"…son, I haven't seen you this agitated before on a business deal, that explains why you didn't come home straight away"

"Oh…Mr. Nolan…haha you should have seen our client she really got on Em's nerve. It was so funny to watch him interact with her" Ruben intervened and laughed at the memory of his friend's encounter with Regina. When he looked over to his friend, he shut his mouth because Emmett was sending him angry glares.

"Oh Really now? And who is this mysterious client of ours?" asked David, curious.

"No one special, father. You don't need to bother yourself by learning anything about her" Emmett said as he tried to dismiss the topic about Regina.

"Hmm..well, you can tell me about her when you are ready son" David knew Emmett was stubborn and wouldn't be able to get anything out of him right now.

"Yes father, if its alright with you, I am going to my room" Emmett said to his father who nodded at in approval. "Oh Ruben, you can move yourself to the guest room" with that Emmett left them both in the living room.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Meanwhile…..

"Sooooo?" Ruben spoke after Emmett left him with his father. And the awkward silence was killing him. Not to mention David always made him feel scared for some reason. _'Talk about being cornered…hah…damn you Em' _

"I know my son wont share me with but maybe you can tell about this mysterious girl?!" David thought maybe Ruben would tell him about the girl.

David's curiosity got Ruben out of his thoughts. He didn't really know what to say, if he were to tell everything then Emmett would surely kill him and if not then David will kill him. _'AHHHHHH…WHAT DO I DO?'_ "Umm…sir….I mean David, I believe it would be best if Em were to tell you himself, I don't want to impose" When he received no response in return, Ruben got up to leave. "I guess I'll go to the guest room to rest. I am sure Emmett would want to go back soon." With that he left David own his own in the living room.

The same maid came over and picked up the glasses from the table but before she left she asked, "Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"Well my wife and I will be our room, so don't let anyone disturb us, thank you" with that the maid left as well.

David also got up to go to his and his wife's room as well.

Emmett's room

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!...

"Who is it?" asked Emmett. He was standing by his open window looking out the room and letting the soft wind in which helped him calm down. He had ordered a drink for himself. He was holding the half filled glass in his hand. And turned toward his door to notice Ruben stepping into his room. He had taken off his black vest off that was now on his bed as well as the black tie and had few buttons open of his white half sleeve shirt.

"You know getting intoxicated in the morning isn't going to help much?!" Ruben inquired.

Emmett just smirked. "Well do you have any better ideas, my dear friend" Emmett said with a little sarcasm in his voice and raised his now empty glass to his friend.

As he was about to reach for the bottle, Ruben came up and snatched the bottle out of his hand. "I know you are upset and stressed but this is not the way to work things out. We still don't know where your brother is? Aren't you worried?"

Emmett just laughed at him. "hahaha…..ha….of course I am. I was hoping maybe this time things will turn out to be for the best but….noooooo….he had to go and mess up again" Ruben could see the broken emotions on his friend's face. He put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"Em…look you tried to help him, it's not your fault. Now you need to focus on finding out where he has run to. Wasn't he supposed to come back here?" questioned Ruben.

Sigh… "Yea..he was. The last I talked to him, he didn't seem happy with the idea on coming back home. Besides I don't know where to look for him. I tried to contact him and Marian but no luck there. Their phones seemed to be switched off or something" Emmett shared.

"How are you going to handle Mary?" Ruben mentioned the issue at hand.

Emmett just walked back over to the window and stared outside and Ruben just sat down on the corner of his bed.

"I don't know to be honest. She trusted me with Robin and I failed her" Emmett spoke after few minutes on silence.

That statement just ticked off Ruben. "BULLSHIT!...your idiot of a brother is the one who doesn't understand when the chance is given to mend things. So how the hell is it your fault? Hmm…stop blaming yourself already. Let Robin deal with this now, stop supporting him in everything he does. You need to let him be responsible for once" Ruben tried to make his friend see reason.

"Then what do you think I should tell mother!? She already been upset many times before I don't want to see her hurt anymore…" Emmett let out not looking back to his friend, he could feel Ruben's eyes on his back.

"Look Em, you can't burden yourself every time Robin messes up, I understand he is your younger brother but that does not excuse his mistakes, he needs to start acting like a grown up and face the consequences. I still can't figure out how he managed to fraud with the Mills family? How did he got those property papers from them?" Ruben questioned out loud.

At the mention of the Mills family, Emmett turned around and saw his friend deep in thought. "Don't worry about them, I got the papers mailed back to the Mills family, so there won't be an issues related to those insane people" Emmett try to affirm his friend's worry.

Ruben looked up to look at his friend and said, "Of course. I know you wouldn't want a court case on your head now".

Sigh! "Either go to your room or go back when you want. I will be staying here for a night," Emmett decided.

"Ohh..okay well if you are staying the night. I should probably go back and check up on things at the office then" Ruben finished as he got up from the bed and started to walk to door.

"hmmp, more like to go see Belle" Emmett said under his breath as he watched his friend's retreating back.

"You know I heard that" Ruben said without turning around but stopped at the door.

"I have no idea what you are referring to, Ruben" Emmett tried to be oblivious. But still had the little smile on his face.

Ruben shrugged his shoulder and said "Whatever swan, I'll see you tomorrow morning then, enjoy your solitary" with that he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Emmett's sight went back to the table where the bottle was still sitting. He picked up his glass and poured himself another glass and continued to enjoy the breeze from the window.

Ruben

After about one and half hour drive from Nolan's place, Ruben reaches the Nolan's Construction Company building. The building was about 30 minutes away from Emmett's personal apartment/home. The building was 30 stories high. Ruben parked the car in front of the building and got out and locked it behind him as he walked to the entrance door. As he walked into to building, he walked up to the elevator and pressed the up button. After about 5 minutes of waiting the elevator opened and he moved to the side so the people inside could walk out. When it was empty he walked in and clicked the close door button and clicked on the 25th floor button. Before the doors completely shut off, Ruben saw a hand come in between the doors, he quickly clicked on the open door button and saw the doors open and looked up saw Belle standing in front of him.

_'BELLE!..oh god. Damn you Emmett! You had to mention her before I left!' _Ruben cursed in his mind and didn't notice Belle walking in and stand beside him.

"Hello, Ruben sir!" Belle greeted him. The doors dinged closed and he looked to his side and saw Belle smile at him.

'_Oh god she's so pretty! My heart is beating so fast!'_ meanwhile Belle's face was filled with concern when she received no response from Ruben. "Umm…is something wrong?" Belle spoke up again and asked.

The concern in Belle's voice finally got Ruben out of his thoughts and he finally decided to speak. "No..nothings wrong. I..was just thinking. And you don't have to call me 'sir' or anything just call me 'Ruben'. I think we are past formalities, Belle." He smiled at her trying not to make a fool out of himself.

"Well...I am just a receptionist and you are the vice president. Our positions are very far apart. It wouldn't be professional to call you by your name alone. Sir" Belle clarified as she looked up at him and noticed that Ruben was still smiling at her.

Ruben couldn't get enough of her beauty; he couldn't take his eyes off her face and couldn't stop staring into those blue eyes. Then he noticed her flushed cheeks and saw Belle her face away from his sight and look at the closed door in front of them.

"I am sorry Belle, I didn't mean to stare. I guess you are right but I wouldn't mind if you just called me just by my name, it doesn't matter if it seems professional or not. I have given you permission to call me by my name but that is if you are comfortable" Ruben spoke as he turned to look at the closed doors of the elevator like Belle.

"Its..alright and I don't mind. I guess it will take time to get used to call you by your name. Si…I mean Ru-Ruben" Belle said without looking away. But Ruben looked back at her and saw the small smile on her face and smiled himself. He loved the way his name sounded when Belle said it. He wished she would call him by his name more often now.

The doors finally opened to the 25th floor and both parties stepped out. Belle walked to her desk and sat on her chair, she placed few papers on her desk that she was holding in one of her hands, Ruben hadn't noticed during the ride. Ruben's office was past few offices on the way. He didn't move from Belle's desk to go to his office but instead stood there and again started staring at Belle as she was working on some papers now.

Belle also noticed that Ruben hadn't moved from her desk to leave. "Was there something you need? Um..Ruben?" she still wasn't feeling comfortable saying his name but was trying her hardest not to stutter. Belle's voice took Ruben out of his daze.

"Huh…uh no..no no" sigh…. "well I did want to ask you something and please don't feel pressured to answer or anything" Ruben looked at Belle's and noticed her confusion.

"Wouldyougotothedinneriwithmetonight" Ruben mumbled out so fast.

Belle was still looking at him with the same confusing expression on her face. _'Idiot, you can't even…..you are a mumbling mess now, great! Now she will for sure reject your invitation' _Ruben thought, losing all hope.

"I didn't understand what you just asked me, Sir?" Belle spoke up and quickly realized her slip "I-I-I meant Ruben" she whispered.

"Hah…Belle….hoofff….Will you give me the honor of taking you out for dinner tomorrow night?" Ruben let it out, not caring about the consequences.

Belle just stood there with her mouth open and eyes wide open. When Ruben didn't receive no response. He started fidgeting. "You know….you can reject me, I wont hold that against you…so…." Still there was no response.

Belle then realized that she was still in her shock phase and quickly closed her mouth and tried to answer. "umm…Forgive me Ruben, I can't" Belle forced the words out. She looked at him and saw the hurt on his face and in his brown orbs. She then sat down on her chair and continued doing her work, ignoring Ruben.

Ruben let the words sink in and tried to get over the hurt. He then noticed Belle getting busy with her work again and left without saying anything. But he was able to notice the hurt on her face as well, which confused him even more. _'Why did she say no then?' _was Ruben's only thought as walked to his office.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Ruben spent the whole day getting himself busy with work, he didn't want to think about the events of the morning so his only way was to consume himself in the work besides since Emmett wasn't available at office, mostly all the responsibility fell on him for the day. As for Emmett, he spent the whole day in his room at his parent's mansion, he didn't even went to eat lunch with them when he was invited, making a excuse of 'not feeling well'. His parents tried to offer their company too but he refused. Mary and David knew that leaving him alone would be for best, but they assured him they would wait for him to come to them whenever he wanted.

On the other hand Belle was getting ready to leave for the day, it was about to be 10 pm, she had spent extra time at the office today. Mostly all of the workers had gone home already, only few remained. She knew Katherine was already home. She had received a text from her asking her when she will be home. She just had to go give these few papers to Ruben and then she could go home.

'I wonder how he's doing after this morning, I still can't believe he asked me out…hah…no no no no don't think about that now, you just have to give these reports for the day to him and then leave….yeah….no pressure…' Belle was giving a pep talk to herself as she was walking over to Ruben's office. As she reached the door, she went up to knock.

Knock!…knock!….knock!

"Come in!" came the response from the other side of the door. Belle opened the door and stepped in. She noticed that Ruben hadn't even looked at the door to see who it was. He was currently sitting on the chair and reading through a file. Belle walked to his table and placed the reports on the table.

"Here's the report for today, sir" at Belle's voice, Ruben finally looked up from the file and noticed Belle still standing there, waiting.

"uh…thank you Belle, if that's all you can go.." Ruben said turning back to the file in front of him.

"um…Ru- I mean..sir?!..." at that Ruben looked up again but didn't say anything, waiting for Belle to finishing say what she wanted. But Belle just stood there and starting fidgeting.

"sigh…Belle, was there something else you needed?" Ruben tried asking her.

"Umm sorry…nothing sir. I'll be going now" with that Belle turned around and walked out of the office. Ruben was left dumbfounded at Belle's sudden leave. He decided to not let it get to his head and went back to work. He needed to go through this file one more time to make sure everything was as it's suppose to be for tomorrow's meeting. After that he would be done for the day and go back to his place.

Meanwhile in Stroybrooke….

It was 7pm. The Mills were preparing themselves for dinner. Everybody was sitting at the table and eating, everybody was quite.

"I am done, I'll be going to my room" Regina said, as she got up from her spot and walked away from the table.

"Regina…won't you stay for desert?" asked Cora looking at her direction. Regina stopped and turned around and responded a small no then went up the stair without waiting for another comment or question form anyone else.

When she was back in her room. She decided to text Graham.

Regina: Graham, are you ready for tonight?

Graham: hey.. yeah I am all set. How about you?

Regina: Yes. I am all set too. I was able to convince mother to let me for out today and I got the money.

Graham: Wait.. would she had found out by now then?

Regina: No..Graham I took care of that. If they fear my mother, you know I am no less either. Hahaha.

Graham: well as long as Cora doesn't find out before you leave tonight then you are safe.

Regina: yea, you are right.

Regina: I will text you again tonight and let you know when you need to be here. Again thank you graham for doing this.

Graham: no problem Regina, I will see you soon.

With that Regina put her phone on her table and decided to lie down on her bed and sleep for a little bit.

After deserts everybody had went to their own rooms.

Cora &amp; Hnery's room

As Cora and Henry entered their room, Cora sat in front of her dressing table and started taking off her jewelry. And Henry went to sit on the their bed, taking off his tie and coat off.

"Don't you thin something is going with Regina?" Cora turned around and looked at Henry with a serious expression on her face. Henry tired to ignore her gaze.

"Well, what do you expect Cora, she has been through a lot. She's not herself for the moment, it will take time." Henry spoke his opinion.

Cora just ignored him and got up from the table to go change in the bathroom. After few minutes she came out and noticed that Henry was ready for bed. He was already inside the comforter. Cora decided to do the same.

Cora just sat beside him and waited for him to put the book down he was reading, he had gotten from the beside table.

"Henry! Don't you find Regina's behavior a little odd though?" asked Cora.

"Cora…sigh…you are just anxious that whether or not she will agree to your terms" Henry finally said.

Cora just stared at him, and didn't know what to say. "You know what Cora, I am going to sleep, I don't want to talk about this" Henry announced as he put away his book and lay down to go to sleep. Cora was stunned for a minute and soon she herself decided to lie down and go to sleep as well.

It was now 12 am at midnight. Regina had gotten up an hour ago. She noticed that it was quite outside. Everyone was mostly like be asleep already. Now her only worry was how to get out of the mansion quietly without attracting attention. The day had allowed her to make her arrangements of finish packing her luggage with the things she decided she only needed. She had her handbag that had her passport and the tickets printouts and all the necessary items. Her flight was at 1:30am and the airport was about half an hour away. She took her phone out and texted graham to come pick her up. After a minute she received a reply of an 'ok I'm coming'.

She knew it would take about 10 minutes for Graham to reach her place so she gather her stuff and walked out of her room. She noticed that only a lamplight was on in the living room. She made her way to the stairs with quite steps. She got down the stairs as quietly as possible with the luggage and when she was downstairs she looked up and around her to make sure that no one has gotten up. She had picked her luggage up from the floor during and her walk down stairs to not make a single sound and she guessed she would have to keep holding it up until she reaches the main gate. She was glad she hadn't packed lots of things because the luggage was not that heavy for her to walk across the room. She stood in front of the door and looked to her side, there was a security keypad, she quickly put the code with her other hand and opened the door slowly and got out.

She stood in front of her house and decided to text Graham again.

Regina: Are you here yet? She didn't receive a immediate response so she decided to wait there until Graham decided to text her back.

After about 5 minutes she felt her phone vibrate. She looked at it and saw Graham's name with a text message.

Graham: I just got here come on out. Regina walked across the footpath and came up to the entrance gate. She noticed another security keypad on it and typed the code in and opened the door and got out and closed the door behind her.

Regina saw Graham parked opposite her house. She almost ran upto him and got in the car.

"Are you really sure about this, Regina?" asked Graham to make sure Regina was absolutely confident.

"Yes Graham, I am 100% positive about my decision, now let go to the airport" Regina said. Graham noticed the confidence in her voice. He was glad. With that they left the Mills mansion but not before Regina looked back one more time. 'Goodbye Daddy…' was Regina's last thought as the mansion started to appear small and small and then they were out of sight.

They managed to reach the airport in about 25 minutes with Graham breaking the speed limit now and then. Regina got her luggage on the carry ons and checked out her ticket at the desk.

"I don't think I will be ever able to repay your debt Graham" Regina tried to express her thank you to Graham.

Graham just looked at her and said "Hey, this was nothing reason, and you don't have to look at it like a debt or anything, I agreed to help you besides that's what friends for right!"

"Even though, I am really glad you agreed and I appreciate it a lot" Regina said looking at him with a small smile.

"Hey I should have asked you this sooner…uh…but how are you going manage in NY alone, do you have any relatives there or a friend?" asked Graham with worry in his voice.

"hahaha…Graham, you are so forgetful. Did you forget that Belle moved to NY three years ago, I will be staying with her for a while so don't worry about me that much. I told you I have everything covered" Regina explained.

"Oh shit…I totally forgot. Well that appeases my worry" Graham said with a smile. Regina was so grateful that she had friends like Belle and Graham in her life that are supporting her in her decision.

"Uhh..have you—have you told her about your pregnancy and Robin?" Graham asked. The question got Regina out of her daze and she looked at Graham who was expecting an answer to his question.

"Um..no…I-I know I should have but, I couldn't tell her. Maybe..maybe when I there I will tell her, if I find the courage to..sigh" Regina said, feeling uneasy now.

Graham just pulled her in and hugged her. "Hey now…I am sure Belle will be understanding so you don't have anything to fear okay?!" Graham assured her.

"Yea you are right. Thank you Graham" Regina said with a smile. Soon she felt Graham let go of her and she stepped back a little to look at him.

"Well…I should go now. I can't thank you enough Graham" Regina said.

"Like I said anything for a dear friend" was Graham response. They hugged one more time and Graham stood at his spot and watched Regina disappear in the crowd and after few minutes spotted her at the check-in line. He noticed Regina was trying to look for him and when she finally spotted him she waved at him and he waved back. After that he noticed Regina walk into the other side where she was out of sight now. He decided this was his signal to leave and go back to his place and sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Belle &amp; Katherine's place….

"WHAT!...he invited you to dinner? Wait…did you say yes? Of course you did…you been crushing on him for a year now since they day you started working there…..OMG Belle this is so exciting…eeeeehheee" Belle didn't know why her friend had to be so dramatic all the time with her personal life.

"Will you clam down, Kat?" Belle rolled her eyes at her. "And NO! I didn't say yes" Belle cleared away the misunderstanding. She then noticed Katherine's excitement fade away.

"Whoa..wait why didn't you? This was your chance to get close to him Belle. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Belle decided to ignore her outburst and diverted her attention to the movie on the tv. The next she knew the screen turned black and noticed the remote in Katherine's hand.

"We need to talk about this? Like right now! So no distractions" Katherine demanded and Belle just moved herself over to one corner of the sofa and tried to give her full attention to her friend. Belle noticed Katherine was staring at her, expecting her to explain her reasons.

"Well…are you waiting for something to happen or what? I know for sure your friend's flight isn't coming in about few hours so spill" Katherine spoke again. Belle just rolled her eyes again and hugged her legs and looked down on her feet on the sofa.

"First of all…I never imagined in my lifetime that he would ever ask me out like that. Besides I don't think it will work out in the long run" Belle finished, hoping her friend would let it go now. But when she looked up at her friend and was confused at seeing a angry face of her friend.

"REALLY….ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?" Katherine asked but received no answer. She just sighed and saw her friend hug her knees even more. She couldn't help but let her ager go at seeing Belle so sad.

"Belle" she said her name softly. "You shouldn't hold back because of your place in that company. I know he's your boss but you never know what will happen until you try it. So don't stop this from happening just because you are afraid of the outcomes…"

"No..Kat it's not as easy as you think. Imagine what people will think of me. They probably are going to start rumors of me being a slut and sleeping with Ruben just to move up in the company. I know Ruben wouldn't want to deal with that either…I can't do this..so its better if I just give it up" Belle explained. Katherine knew what Belle was saying was correct but she also knew her friend has been crushing on this guy for a year now so she wasn't about to let this slip away that easily.

"Belle…I understand that but I still believe you should give it a try and see things playout. Besides from the looks of it..he's into you too so its not about getting a promotion or a higher status. It's about two people feeling the same way and acting on their feelings" Katherine hoped that her friend would listen to her now.

"…sigh…I don't want to talk about it. I going to go to sleep I have to pick up Regina in the morning…..good night Kat" Belle said with a defeated voice. All Katherine could do was just let it be for now; there was no point in pushing her too much. 'I hope she comes to realize it soon before she misses her chance completely' Katherine shook her head as she saw her friend walk into her room.

"I guess I'll just finish up the movie by….myself then…hmm" she said to the empty room now.

Belle's room….

Belle couldn't sleep; she was replaying Katherine's words in her mind over and over again. She could hear the movie playing but the volume wasn't too high so she couldn't make out the words that were being said. Her friend was always so considered of her. 'Maybe Katherine does have a point, if Ruben hadn't felt the same way then why would he ask me out' Belle thought. 'I guess I should talk to him about it..'

Ting! The noise got Belle out of her thought and saw that her phone screen had lighten up. She moved to grab her phone from the table beside her bed. She held the phone above her face and saw that she received a text message from an unknown number. It said 'Hi' with a smiley face. For a second she thought it might a stalker or something. She decided to ignore it and went to put her phone back on table. But before she could she hear another 'ting' and saw another message from the same unknown number. She opened the message and it read 'Belle, its Ruben.' She didn't know if what she was reading was right. Why would Ruben text her right now and where did he get her number. Then she thought maybe from her file at the company.

Belle: Hi uh sir.

She didn't know what else to say. And waited until she got a reply back but not before saving his number in her phone.

Ruben: Belle like I said this morning you can call me Ruben…please.

She thought she might be dreaming or something how can this be why was Ruben even messaging her and for what.

Belle: Was there something you needed? Ruben.

She felt that the message sounded a little rube but it was too late she had already sent it.

Ruben: uh no…um actually yes. I couldn't help but wonder how you looked sad after you rejected me this morning.

Belle didn't know what to say to that she got too into her panic mode and forgot to think of a reply then she heard another notification on her phone and looked to see another text from Ruben.

Ruben: I am sorry Belle. I shouldn't have messaged you at all like this. Lets forget about this and I will see you the day after tomorrow. Good night.

Belle: Ruben..you don't have to apologize. I was just thinking and as for your question I would like to discuss that when we meet again that is if you would still want to.

Belle waited for about few minutes but didn't get a reply back she thought maybe he went to sleep. She put her phone back on the table and was about to close her eyes then again she heard another 'ting'. She quickly grabbed her phone and was pleased to see the message from Ruben.

Ruben: Yes! Of Course Belle. Thank you.

Belle: Good night! Ruben :)

Ruben: Good night Belle :)

'Try it huh' was Belle's last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

As for Ruben….

He was still looking at the messages him and Belle had exchanged few minutes ago. He was happy that Belle hadn't freaked out and called him a creeper or something similar. He had her number in his phone for about few months now but couldn't find any reason/ more like courage to message her. He decided to call his friend and share this new development or so he thought.

"Pick up, Em" Ruben said to no one. He was currently in his bed sitting up in his black wife beater and grey sweats. Emmett didn't pick up the firs time so Ruben decided to call him again, he waited again until four rings had passed and then his friend picked up his phone at the sixth ring.

"There better be a good reason for you to call me at fucking 12:30 am?" Ruben could detect the irritation in his friend voice but decided to ignore it.

"Would you calm the fuck down?...Stop being so grumpy all the time" Ruben said with a little anger in his own voice.

"You know I wouldn't be mad if you hadn't disturbed me from my damn sleep!" Emmett argued from the other side.

"Oh please…you can get your beauty sleep later. I have to tell you something important" Ruben knew if he had said that in front of his friend he would have been dead by now.

"And this couldn't wait until morning at the office, where we both work at, and MEET..because?!" Emmett was even more irritated now, Ruben could feel his anger through the phone now that scared him a little, and he didn't need an angry Em right now.

"Okay..maybe it was wrong to—call you at this hour..but-BUT…I had to tell you this like right away, so can you please give me few of your minutes even if its at middle of the night" Ruben pleaded.

"Alright…sigh…it better be good" was Emmett's reply.

"Thanks Em…so I asked Belle out to dinner this morning…" Ruben waited for his friend to say something but there was nothing but silence.

"Well….she said no…hah" Ruben said with a sad smile on his face.

"ah hahahaha hahahah…wow you finally had the courage to ask her out and….hahahah..and she rejected you flat out" Ruben could hear the amusement in his laughter. He was hoping for sympathy and encouraging speech from his friend but could hear none of that instead Emmett laughing at him.

"Yea yea laugh it up…you know you are really a cold person em…the hell did that girl did to you?" Ruben regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. This was not how he expected the conversation to go. It was quite now on the other side. Ruben knew he was screwed now.

"I—Emmett, I didn't….." before Ruben could finish his sentence he heard the line go dead on the other side. He looked at his phone and saw that Emmett had hang up.

'Fuck'

He knew sleep wouldn't come to him now. He was to busy with thinking about his screw up and he knew he had to make it right. With that he closed his and decided to get some sleep before seeing Emmett tomorrow morning.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The next day was out of sort for Ruben and Emmett and as well for Belle. Who had taken the day off and was at the airport waiting for her Regina. It was 9 in the morning. Both Ruben and Emmett were at the office. They were both looking for some files with silence looming over them. Usually they would talk now and then and discuss about the deals but today was completely different from those other days.

Ruben closed the file and looked over to his friend who was sitting in his chair away from Ruben who was sitting on the sofa in the office. He stood up and walked over to Emmett's table and sat opposite of on the chair.

"Look…uh Em…well-I am sorry about last night..i didn't mean what I said. Can you please stop ignoring me?" Ruben asked as he saw his nest friend look away from the file and at him.

"You know Ruben…I know it was wrong of me to laugh at you..sigh…but I don't understand why you had to mention her..wh-when-when you know how I feel about that whenever anyone mentions her..!" Emmett said without looking away.

Ruben could do nothing but look away from Emmett's sad eyes and feel even more guilty than before. "I know Em..haah..i have no idea why I said what I said..it ju-just happened but I do regret it and…now even more.."

"Please! Em..forgive me I wasn't trying to hurt you..my anger got the best of me…I was already bummed out because of Belle and I guess I took it out on you…"

Emmett got up and walked up to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. "Its alright Ruben…I was at fault too so lets forget this and get done with looking over these files"

"….I am glad we are back to ourselves..I guess…hahah…I hate when we fight!" Ruben finally felt at ease, the silence was over. He was always glad that their fights never last long. He had a content smile on his face and he noticed so did his best friend. They both went back to work now with their usual talks and jokes in between.

Bella &amp; Katherine's Place…

"Well here we are..so what do you think?" Belle looked over to her childhood friend and tried to read her reaction. The airport was one hour away from Belle's place. When Regina's flight had come in, Belle was already there waiting for her friend. They hugged each other and chatter their way to the baggage claim area, which didn't take long, so they were ready to go in half an hour.

Belle noticed the tiredness on Regina's face but also something else which she decided not to question. "I think we can talk later..maybe tonight.. you make yourself at home, Katherine, my roommate, and me will be back from work —say about 7 or 8" Belle smiled at Regina.

Regina just walked up to her friend and hugged her again. "Thank you so much Belle, you don't know how much this means to me, and don't worry I will return the favor one day" Regina whispered softly to Belle while still embracing her in a tight but comfort hug. They soon let go of each other.

"You can sleep if you like, you can take my bed for now and we will get you your own soon" Belle said still smiling. She was really happy to have her childhood friend living with her. She knew that they need to discuss some serious issues but that could wait for now. Right now she was happy she was getting to spend time with Regina.

"Oh..no no Belle..thats your bed" she looked around and noticed the sofa she was sitting on "I'll sleep here on the sofa until we get a bed for myself..so you don't have to worry about me"

Belle grabbed Regina's hand, they were sitting face to face on the sofa, she held Regina's right hand in both of her hands and gently squeezed it. "Regina..its okay. I can manage on the sofa for few days, you're my guest, so you are taking the bed" Belle managed to explain.

"Belle you don't have to do that…I don't want to be a burden on you..besides you go to work every morning, its not good if you won't get any proper sleep..so its decided I'm taking the sofa.." Regina reasoned out "please Belle".

Belle let out a defeated sigh and replied. "Alright, you win…well I am gona go to my work place for a little bit, you rest I'll be back in an hour or so"

"Yeah yea sure go ahead I'll make myself at home then.." Regina assured Belle with a tired smile.

As Belle walked to the door she glanced back one more time to see Regina sitting on the said sofa, she smiled a small smile as she let herself out and locked the door behind her.

'Time to face the devil!' was her last thought as she headed toward her work place.

30 minutes later…..

'Oh come on! How long is this thing going to take?' Belle thought as she kept pressing the elevator button to go up.

She pressed it one more time and it finally opened, she noticed someone coming out and it was none other than the person she was looking forward to seeing.

"Belle!" Ruben said with a surprised tone. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming in today?"

Belle didn't reply right away she noticed Ruben was holding few files in his hand.

"Um..well I actually came by to see you about what we talked about last night and I was hoping maybe we can discuss it today" she looked up to him and back to the files in his hands, "But it I think you are busy so we can wait until tomorrow" Belle said pointing towards the files in Ruben's hand.

"Oh" Ruben looked where Belle was looking "Uh..this can wait Belle, I am not in any rush" Ruben said as he looked towards Belle; hoping Belle to stay and talk.

"Are you sure?" she asked to make sure and saw Ruben nod.

"Well..then lets get going!"

At a Café…

Belle decided it was best for them talk somewhere else rather than discussing something like this at the office's lunch lounge.

Belle had order herself a tea and Ruben decided to get black coffee.

"So..um.." Belle could sense the discomfort aura around them. She saw Ruben was trying to avoid meeting her gaze as he took a sip of his coffee and looked at a different direction from her.

Belle closed her eyes and took a sip of her own tea right after she put the cup down, she decided to be the one break this awkwardness around them.

"I think its best I was straight word with my reason for rejecting you earlier. I don't believe it's a good idea for us to be involved in any other way than just being professional with each other. Your position is much higher than mine so that is why I think its best the way things are now. I don't want anyone to say horrible things about you or me. I hope you understand what I am trying to say." Belle waited for Ruben to say something but they were both stuck with silence.

After a little while Ruben decided to say something.

"Thank you Belle! That's the one thing I have always admired about you. You always put other people before you" Belle looked up to see Ruben staring at her with a kind smile on his face. She couldn't help but blush at the moment. "But Belle…I can't accept your reasoning" Ruben continued and he noticed the smile fall off of Belle's face.

"What I am trying to say here is…please….please…give us a chance, just one chance. And I promise you no one will say any negative things about our relationship" he grabbed one of Belle's hand, that wasn't occupied at the moment, with both his hands. Their joined hand displayed in the middle of the table and both of them staring into each other's eyes. "Please Belle…I want to know more about you…I want to have a chance to love you completely and freely with my heart" it was spoken so softly that Belle was doubting if she was hearing it right but then she couldn't help but notice the sincerity and adoration in Ruben's eyes for her.

"I don't know what to say" Belle managed to get out; she was still so mesmerized by his green eyes.

Ruben squeezed her hand and said, "Just say yes!"

Belle let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. "I…huff…..okay fine, but we can't tell anyone in the office…we can't be open about our relationship.."

Belle noticed that Ruben was about to protest her idea so be fore he could say anything she spoke again. "I know it's not what you want but I don't feel ready to be out there with you like that in front of everyone"

It was taking everything for Belle to get these words out, she knew it was unfair to Ruben and her but she couldn't help but we afraid of how it would end if there were open about their relationship all of sudden and how people would react to her.

"Haha…I guess, I will fulfill that wish of yours, Belle. But I also hope you come see that there is nothing to be afraid of…I won't let us fall down that easily, especially not without a fight" Ruben gave her a sweet smile and winked at her. Belle just blushed all over again but there was a hint of smile on her face with some hope blooming inside her heart.

(Sorry guys, i haven't been consistent with my story regularly. I mostly have hard time putting the story into words so please be patient with me. And i am trying to find time to work on this but with other things it gets kind of forgotten or i am not able to work on this much as i want to. Thank you tho.)


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Thud!

"Regina?" Belle called out to the quiet apartment but received no response. She decided to check the sofa before calling Regina's name out once more. She took her shoes off by the door and hanged her keys on the key hanger by the door. She quietly stepped towards the sofa in the living room; she reached her point she leaned forward and looked down to see if Regina was still sleeping.

"Ah..she still asleep" whished Belle to the quietness.

"I should make us something to eat. I bet she will be hungry," Belle said with a smile as she moved herself to the kitchen by the living the room. The kitchen wasn't that big but was good enough to have much of the stuff for cooking and keeping food stored.

_Hmm what should I make?...AHA!...got it!_ Was belle's last thought before getting consumed into her cooking.

Back at the office…..!

"Ruben!1 Where the hell were you? I called you so many times but you didn't pick up at all?!" Emmett burst into Ruben's office when he was notified of his return to the office from his other worker.

Ruben ignored Emmett's flustered look and was just smiling which has been the case since he came back from his chat with Belle. "Ahhh…. I am so happy, Em" Ruben blurted out as he put both his hands on Emmett's both shoulders.

"Obviously I can see that from that giant smile on your face…sigh." Emmett narrowed his eyes on Ruben who was still smiling like an idiot. "Now if you don't take your hands off of me, I might cut them off or something..i don't think that will leave any kind of smile on your face" Emmett said with a tight smile and irritated voice.

That seemed to take Ruben out of his daze and his hands from Em's shoulders. He doesn't prefer a sarcastic Emmett and he believes no one else will either, ever. Because it can get real scary real quick and the boundaries between sarcasm and seriousness tends to fade away with Emmett.

"Uh..ahah…no need to get serious, Em" Ruben let out with a nervous laugh, all his excitement gone.

"So what got you so happy that you skipped some time off of work?" Emmett inquired.

"Uh..Nothing! I was just…uh…"Ruben looked around not meeting Emmett's gaze. "Um I was just doing what you asked for me to do. I actually meeting someone to see if they were fit to be your secretary" Ruben lied trying to look Emmett in the eyes.

"Hmm..so you didn't just go see Belle! Yea how can that be she has the day off of course meeting a stranger for the first time will make only my dear friend so so happy" Emmett said with a straight face, he then glared at Ruben in anger for taking him for a fool.

_Yep I can never lie to this creature GOD! Him and his inbuilt lie detector _thought Ruben, as he knew there was no point in hiding things from him.

"Okay okay you got me!" sigh "Man why can't I ever keep things from you for once" whispered Ruben to himself as went back to sit on his chair.

"What did you say?" Emmett knew what he heard, but he wanted Ruben to say to his face.

"Nothing I said nothing! Well are you gona just stand there or what come take a seat Em!" offered Ruben as he noticed Emmett didn't move to sit at all since he entered his office.

Emmett dismissed his comment and walked up to the office window and opened the blinds to look through the window to outside world. It was brighter now in the room. They were on the 25th floor of the building; Emmett could see other building and looked down to see cars and people passing by.

"So are you going to tell me now where were you and with whom?" Emmett asked while still facing away from Ruben and looking outside through the office window.

Ruben leaned back on his chair and rested his hands on his stomach. "I was with Belle. She uh she had dropped by to talk to me so we went to the café few blocks from here to talk" Ruben said looking to where Emmett was standing by the window.

Emmett turned back around and looked straight into Ruben's eyes.

"I hope you know what you are doing Ruben. Belle is not like other girls you have had the pleasure of meeting a girl every other night or so" Emmett warned, still not taking his eyes off of Ruben.

Ruben wasn't backing down from their staring contest either. "Trust me Em I'm not doing this to just get laid…I really want to get to know her better and learn everything about her. I am serious for real this time and I won't let anything ruin that," Ruben declared with full determination.

"Ruben I have known you for a long time now. I don't think I have ever seen you be serious about anyone before" Emmett let out a breath. "but…I am also aware of the type of guy you are Ruben after all, I have lived up to now to tell the tales of your very very short relationships" Emmett said with a smirk on his face. He knew Ruben was not lying when he told him he's serious about Belle but he also couldn't ignore his past either.

Emmett still hadn't taken his eyes off of Ruben, he could see that Ruben was taking in his words and the warnings within those sentences.

"Em..please" Ruben closed his eyes for a minute and looked towards Emmett again.

"Well then really give me a good ass reason to really believe you about your feelings for Belle!"

"I can't do it Em, you just have to trust me and believe for now. Even I don't know how I came to obtain such strong feelings for her" Ruben got up from his sitting chair and walked up to Emmett and stood in front of him not breaking eye contact at all.

"I admit that the first time I saw her I just wanted it to be those regular one time things and nothing more…but for some weird ass reason I always lost my cool whenever I tried talking to her" Ruben explained as he ran his hand through his brunette hair, not liking the feeling of being completely open like this. "You have to believe when I say this that over time as I slowly got to know her even thought its not much but her mere presence just calms me down and I love being around her and, and I don't want anyone else because every time I try to its her who just pops up in mind stopping me from being the person I was before, not that I am complaining, its just her being around me and my life has given me a reason to actually feel something for real, something strong" Ruben finished pouring his heart to his best friend, never breaking eye contact. He let out a soft sigh and hoping that his best friend would believe him now.

Ruben noticed Emmett give him a small smile; he didn't know what to make of it.

What he hadn't expected was for Emmett to just grab him to hug him instead of laughing at him for his confession.

"So does this mean you believe me..?"

Emmett let go of Ruben and said "Ruben I never doubted you, I just wanted to make sure that whatever you were planning to do was something you wouldn't regret later on. I wanted to make sure that you were sure of yourself and your feelings for her." Emmett gave him another small smile.

"Damn you Em, you scared the shit out of me. I was afraid for a second that my best friend won't support me on this" Ruben let out as he lightly shoved Emmett away.

"Well…hmm" Emmett thought with his hand under the chin motion "I couldn't just let some girl come in between us now, could I?"

Ruben just stared at Emmett with his mouth open, trying to see if that was meant to be a joke or what. Emmett just couldn't get enough of the reactions he was getting out of his friend.

"Ruben darling, you better close you mouth before a fly gets in" Emmett said with a teasing voice. Ruben had sat down on the sofa by the window, where Emmett was still standing close to. He immediately shut his mouth and tried very hard to understand what the hell was going on here.

"Okay man! I get that..you..you..um well its been a long time since you have met someone interesting…but…BUT…lets not lose hope, there are still plenty of fish in the sea…so lets not, not that I have anything against it but..you know…" Ruben shrugged his shoulders hoping to get whatever he was saying across to his friend

Emmett on the other hand, couldn't hold it any more so he burst out laughing at his friend's frantic behavior.

"Calm down Ruben, I was merely teasing you. God, your reaction was priceless. You should have seen yourself" Emmett was still laughing at him.

"Alright, alright!" Ruben got up and away from Emmett and say on his chair.

"So you planning on spending the whole day in my office or what?" Ruben asked after few minutes when Emmett had calmed down.

"Oh well…yea sorry, I was actually asking for you because of that file I had handed you to look through to finalize the deal with our clients" Emmett asked all of a sudden in his serious business like self.

"Um..weell, I looked through it but I will call them up right now to and go over it with them also to make sure everything is in order and I will let you know. How does that sound?" Ruben was hoping for his friend to not lash out at him for ignoring his job.

Emmett walked away from the window and walked up to the office table. He leaned on the table with his arms spread out on the table and started at Ruben.

"I know…I know what you gona say, I promise you it won't happen again" Emmett leaned back to stand properly and Ruben let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Emmett walked to the office door and opened it halfway "Make sure you won't neglect your duty for anything else again, Ruben" before Ruben could say anything more, Emmett had already exited out of his office and the door was not closed again.

_Damn those intense green eyes, scares the shit out of me when he get so serious like that!_

Ruben said to himself as he picked up the phone to call the client about the deal papers sitting in front of him on his desk.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Someone was calling out her name; nudging her to wake up. But she decided to ignore the intruding voice and the touch on her shoulder. Right when she thought the person had given up, she jolted up to a loud call for her name, almost as if her mother was the one yelling her name.

"REGINA! Wake up!" the voice continued once more.

Regina opened her eyes, and looked around the room. She noticed something sitting on the table by the sofa she was sitting up on at the moment.

"You made lasagna?" Regina wondered, trying very hard to keep her eyes open.

It didn't go unnoticed by Belle, who now felt sorry for waking her up so abruptly "I am sorry, I know you are still tired and sleepy but I also think you should eat something too."

"Let me wash up first, because if I don't I might fall asleep again" Regina emphasized with a yawn. Belle instructed Regina on where the bathroom was and was waiting for her friend to come back so they could eat.

It was the middle of the day now and there was still time left for Katherine to be back from her work.

Ding! Belle heard her phone ring letting her know she had received a text message from someone. She reached for her phone that was on the table and noticed that she it was Ruben who had messaged her.

Ruben: Hi Belle!

Ruben: I just wanted to say hi and know how your day was going?!

Belle smiled at that, it had only been few hours since they saw each other. She didn't know how to feel about this new development in their relationship.

Belle: Hello to you as well, Ruben. I'm doing well; I was just about to have lunch with my friend. How about yourself?

Ruben: I am you know the usual, stuck at the office. Hahaha. I am glad you are having a good day. I can't wait to see you tomorrow.

Belle felt herself blush at the last comment, it wasn't like they didn't do that already but only this time it will be different because of the way their relationship was changing. Belle was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice Regina come back to the room and sit beside her. Belle was still staring at her screen lost in thought.

"UHM…Belle is everything alright? Did something happen?" Regina asked pointing at the phone in Belle's hands.

Belle got out of her stupor at Regina's questions and quickly typed a _"I can't wait either"_ text back to Ruben and said bye.

She then gave Regina her full attention who was still waiting for a response "Um..no nothings wrong. It was one of my colleagues texting me to know about how my day off was going."

Regina noticed the way Belle smiled so brightly at the mention of this colleague but decided not to pry into her personal matters.

"Alright, I guess we should eat then, I am definitely starving after that long flight"

"I guessed as much" Belle said, laughing out loud.

After they finished eating, Regina insisted on doing the dishes while Belle waited for her to be done back in the living room. It wasn't decided what they wanted to do next. After few minutes later came Regina from the kitchen and sat back in her seat.

Belle decided to speak first. "Um..Regina, we don't have to do anything today, you can start unpacking your stuff tomorrow and today you can rest up."

"Or we can talk about things and catch up with each others lives." Regina suggested otherwise.

Belle just smiled and hummed an agreement. So they decided to spend the rest of the day chatting and catching up with each other after three years of separation.

At Emmett's office room….

"Mom, Dad why did you guys bothered to come all the way here? You should have called me and I would have come over right away" Emmett said as looked his parents sitting right in front of him. They had come in a few minutes ago without letting Emmett know that they were coming over to the office to see him.

Mary Margaret just smiled a sweet smile at her son. She knew he didn't like to see his parents be bothered for little things that he can do for them himself.

"I wanted to see my son, so here I am besides I know you are always busy with something all the time so we took it in our own hands to come see you"

"Your mother's right Emmett. I advised you to work from home; it won't be difficult to manage from there either. I hope you have given a thought to that idea" David questioned him.

Emmett sighed and cursed Ruben in his mind. "I have dad. I am just waiting for Ruben to hire me a secretary that could work with me at our home. I was thinking maybe I could set up my home work place completely in our old place behind the mansion that way I can rent out a room to my secretary".

David and Mary just stared at their son with open mouth, they didn't know if any girl would just agree to live with their boss under the same roof. Not mention the controversy it will cause for the reputation of the company if something goes wrong.

"Are you even listening to what you are suggesting, Em? Have you lost your mind?!" David almost shouted at his son, trying very hard to keep his anger in control. Mary just grabbed his hand and held it with both of her hands to calm David down.

As for Emmett, he was so confused as to what got his father so angry at him, then he went over what he said few minutes and realized how inappropriate it must have sounded to them.

He panicked and started to explain it was not what he meant to make sound like. "I didn't intend for it to sound so unbecoming, please forgive my foolishness, father" he glanced back at his parents and saw his father was waiting for him to actually explain what he meant by that statement.

"As I was trying to say, what I meant was that if I am to work from home, I need a secretary that can also work from my place. So for that I found it very simple that the said secretary will also have to live with me and I promise you it will only be professional, she/he will have the bottom part of that old house, and I could take the top part, we will both have our own separate rooms, of course a portion from their salary will be taken for to provide her/him with other utilities like food, water etc. But she/he will be responsible for their own personal expenses. I hope you understand what I was trying to imply here" Emmett clarified; still nervous for making his parents doubt his intentions.

Mary let out a sight of relief, she was scared that David would end saying something to their son he will later regret and she was glad it didn't come to that.

"Your father is just trying to be cautious. As we all should be because this situation will be a delicate one. If anything were to go wrong it will only have dire consequences for the company and our family, Em" Mary tried to explain their uncertainty.

Emmett looked at them and understood it was not going to be easy to have his parents back him up for this particular adjustment, but he had no other options.

"I promise you mom and dad, I will not disappoint you" He looked at them with confidence, he needed them to see that he was ready to take any criticism if it ever came to that.

"I wouldn't be in this predicament, if I had Ruben working with me from home but that can't be since I need someone to manage the office and the employees here while I work out our major company deals from home" Emmett finished. His parents looked at him and accepted that their son will work his hardest to manage everything, besides they will be there for him if he finds himself in any trouble.

David finally decides to speak up. "I understand son, but I would still like to warn and ask you to be cautious of your every decision and step".

"I will, Dad" Emmett assured him. David and Mary both got up and decided to leave.

"I will see you guys soon, it was nice of you both to visit me at work" Emmett said as he walked his parents to the door.

After his parents left Emmett was left with his thoughts and mostly the thoughts about what had transpired few minutes ago.

"What the hell is taking Ruben so long to find someone?!" Emmett shouted to the quite office now. "I have to talk to him seriously about this matter tonight for sure!" Emmett decided to himself before returning back to his work. He will deal with this with Ruben, only he can help him for now.

Again guys very sorry for the late update.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

It's been a week since Regina came over to NY; she met Katherine during the first day of her stay. They seemed to get along pretty well; all three of them were now adjusting new arrangements inside their apartment and in personal lives mostly for Regina and Belle. The only problem now present that it was becoming difficult for Regina to find a suitable job. She didn't plan on being a burden on Belle any longer than it was necessary. She was looking for some office desk job with any law firm around the city but she always ran out of luck whenever she tried to apply because nothing related to those positions was available. As for Emmett and Ruben well they were facing the same issue not being able to find anyone suitable and trustable enough take the role of co-habiting with their boss for the secretary job. And this was taking a toll on Ruben for the most part because Emmett was taking all his frustration out on him for not being able to do this simple job.

_'__Simple job…yeah right its not so simple…who the heck wants to be around their boss 24/7 anyways…_' Ruben let the thought run in his mind, this was starting to stress him out.

"You know if you grab onto that glass anymore tighter than you already are, you might end up breaking it and seriously hurt yourself" said Belle after noticing the stressful look on she didn't know what to call him anymore….her boyfriend….her lover….she decided to let it go for now.

Ruben finally relaxed his hand and let the glass sit on the table and pulled his hand back. He looked at Belle and started to feel his worries fade away. A smile crept onto his face without him realizing and he said "I missed spending time with you"

Belle couldn't help but smile and blush; she noticed how Ruben's mood changed. "I am sorry, we haven't been able to spend time much lately..but I have a friend who I am helping find a job; she's new to the city so she needs my assistance" Belle offered an explanation.

Ruben looked at her with a shocked face. Belle was confused as to if she might have said something wrong. "What's wrong? Are you upset with me?" Belle tried to ask, while feeling nervous.

"Uh..no no Belle no I am not upset. I am just shocked you didn't tell me sooner" He noticed the disappointed look on Belle after he said that. Ruben took hold of Belle's hand on the table and said, " Look what I meant was, I have been looking for someone who can work as a secretary for Emmett while he works from home. Oh Also I want them to be comfortable and professional enough to be able to live in the same living space as their boss….uh in other words she or he has to live along side with Emmett" He finished and looked at Belle who was now the one looking horrified and shocked. " But..but I promise you its all professional and all the expenses will be taken care of except their own personal needs of course" Ruben added to not freak out his girlfriend even more.

"So what do you think…will your friend be willing to do it?" Ruben asked with hopes in his eyes, he desperately needed someone who can get him out of this situation besides he trusted that who ever Belle's friend was would be just as nice and sweet as her…. right?! Well nothing can wrong with having faith.

"uh…Ruben…I don't think it's a good idea, she's just looking for a simple desk office job for now….besides she's knew here and doesn't know anybody else besides me….on top of that I don't think she will be to handle our boss and his personality" Belle tried to reason for her friend back at her place.

She looked as Ruben and saw that all the excitement and hope was gone from his face. Then she noticed him letting out a sigh and look at her with calm eyes and his smooth features. "Look…I understand. I didn't mean to pressure you or your friend…but I would appreciate it maybe uh you try asking her at least once and maybe she can even come over to our office to give an interview and have a face to face meeting with Emmett" Ruben hoped that maybe trying his luck more time wouldn't hurt. And he was right; he could notice that Belle was at least considering the thought.

"I suppose asking wouldn't be a bad idea" she offered with a small smile.

"Hey….hey now, I am sorry if this seems like I'm pressuring you…you don't have to do it if you don't want to…and trust me I won't bring it up again…I am sorry I made you feel this way Belle that was not my intension" Ruben said with sad eyes and pleading tone…he really didn't mean to make Belle be forced into anything..specially because of him.

"Oh my..I am sorry Ruben I didn't mean to make you feel guilty and no you are not forcing me into anything…I don't mind asking her but after that it will be up to her decision on what she will say about it" Belle understood that Regina won't be saying yes to this job…she still wasn't familiar with the city so her trying to live with a stranger who will be her boss would be a lot of pressure for her. She didn't want her friend to go through that while she was still around to help her as much as she can.

"Of course…yes it will be all up to her decision" Ruben agreed.

That conversation was held few hours prior, now Ruben was anxiously standing in Emmett's office and being the target of one deadly glare. _'Oh boy! He's for sure mad…well I wonder when is he not mad….especially at me…' _thought with a thinking expression on his face, he had seemed to forgot that he was still being glared at by his dear friend.

"You know I would really appreciate it if you would pay attention a little….I don't know Ruben I feel like since you have been seeing Belle you have been slacking off…..I still don't see anyone to be hired to be my secretary…yet again!" the blonde was losing patients with his friend day by day…it has never taken Ruben this long to complete any task no matter how hard it was..so this seemed to be really new and surprising.

"The hell Em! What do you suppose I do?! huh!" Ruben said with a frustrated tone…Belle was not the reason he was having trouble with this task and he knew Emmett knew that too so why was he bring Belle into this again! "You know I can't just force someone to be your secretary neither can I go buy someone to do this job for you….so for god's sake stop bringing Belle into this matter" Ruben ranted out.

"Haa…Alright…geez calm down I was merely teasing you….But I am most certainly serious about our issue at hand…I need someone as soon as possible" Emmett looked up at his friend who was still not pleased. "Alright alright..I am sorry dear friend" Emmett apologized with a big smile on his face hoping that this will ease his friend's behavior toward him.

"Gahh…don't smile like that Em, you look like a creep!" Ruben exclaimed. Emmett couldn't help but laugh at his friend. "Stop laughing you idiot!"

After Emmett was done laughing at his friend, he tried to pry more to see if Ruben was at least close to finding someone for the job. "I hope you don't find me someone from the company at the last minute because as I told you I don't need anyone from inside the company for this job..an outsider will be perfect and he/she wouldn't have to interact much with the staff and even if it came to that he/she will be trained enough to keep certain things from pry eyes and ears" Ruben couldn't help but nod. Those reason were making this very difficult.

"Well…there is hopefully…I am not sure yet but Belle said she has a friend who just moved out here recently and might be willing to do the job but I wouldn't get my hoped up because Belle was certain that her friend won't be saying yes for this kind of job" Ruben didn't know letting Emmett know about this was a good idea. He looked up at his friend noticed his features change into something like amusement, which made him confused. "What? What are thinking about Em?"

Emmett couldn't help but chuckle at what his friend just informed him about. "Ruben..why does your girlfriend believe her friend won't say yes to this job when I can list many reasons of her saying yes to this very good opportunity!" Ruben couldn't help but be even more confused at what his blonde friend was going on about. "Look…I can assure you she will definitely agree because she's new to this city..she will need a job as soon as possible to support herself and she will need the financial help and on top of that she will be having a space to live at without having to worry about paying for any utilities and all she will need to worry about is her own personal expenses what ever may that be so I don't see any reason there to be for her to reject this job offer" Emmett finished with confidence in his eyes and smirk on his face. "It really is a very very good deal!"

Ruben could have sworn that he felt a chill run up his entire body, this was starting to creep him out and he most certainly won't be trying to get too deep into his friend's mind. "Damn…..I'll see myself out..you are starting to really creep me out…Em" Ruben went out the door and couldn't help but hear his friend laugh a little before walking back to his office.

"Thank you Graham. Keep me updated on everything my mother is doing, please. And make sure she doesn't find about you being in contact with me..so please be very careful" With that Regina cut the call and turned around to see Belle was standing behind her with a surprised look.

"Belle…I…" before she could continue to explain, Belle stormed off to her room and closing the door on Regina. Regina couldn't help but go back to the living room and wait for Belle whenever she would be ready to listen to her.

Half an hour later Katherine had also had came back from work. They were setting up the table for dinner when Regina decided to ask Katherine to call Belle for dinner.

Knock! Knock!… "Belle please come out and have dinner at least" Katherine called out to Belle through the closed door. Then door clocked open and came out Belle, Katherine could tell Belle seemed upset, she still didn't know what had happened before her and she was itching to find out what had caused all this tension in the air.

"Soo….how was work Belle?" Katherine tried to spark up a conversation which she noticed wasn't working at all with Belle's 'It was alright' answer to her earlier question. After they finished dinner, they were all sitting in the living room with the tv on playing a movie which they didn't care to take into notice, all were just waiting for someone to say something.

"Okay! Can someone tell me what is going on? I have noticed you both looking all sad and depressed. So can I know what is happening?" Katherine demanded, she was getting frustrated with the silence, usually they would all talk and joke around and try to relax after a long day of work.

"It's not me who needs to say anything, I am not the one hiding things from her friends in this room" Belle finally spoke up as she gave a pointed look to Regina.

Regina didn't know where to start she was sure Belle must have heard her talking to Graham a while ago.

"I am sorry Belle I have been wanting to tell you guys everything specially you Belle, I had no intention of keeping things from you any longer than I have" the brunette pleaded with her childhood friend to understand. Belle still didn't look at her; she had diverted her attention to the movie on the tv. Katherine on the other hand was looking at Regina with a sad look. "Belle at least let her explain!" Katherine requested for the girl she had only know for a little while but knew she meant no harm.

Finally, Belle decided to give them her attention. She stared at Regina for a moment and decided to have her friend explain her conversation on the phone. "Alright! Can you tell us why you really are here, running away from your family?" she questioned her friend.

Regina took a deep breath and looked at her childhood friend and her roommate, she knew she wanted them to know but she also wanted to be prepared for how to tell them but she guessed there was no right time to let them know about what was really happening or had happened in her life.

She then told them about her mother forcing her into a marriage for money and status, and how in the end she and her whole family was tricked into a fraud by the man she had married, she decided to keep the part about her self being pregnant out of the events that had happened.

Regina couldn't help but cry during the time she was going over her past, Belle and Katherine couldn't help but hug her and try to comfort her pain. They knew they wouldn't be able to understand the pain she was going through but they would try their best to be there for her and support her in anyway they can.

"I am sorry Regina, I knew something was up and that there was a reason you were running from your mother but what I was upset over was you not letting me in and help you through what you were facing, I had been waiting for you to confide in me and I am sorry it had to be this way but I couldn't help but notice the worry every time you would talk to Graham"

They stayed hugging each other for a while before Katherine got up and decided to make hot coco for all three of them. Belle stayed with Regina and kept comforting her, they finally let go and wiped away their tears and waited for Katherine to come back into the living room.

After few minutes Katherine came with three hot coco's in a tray, she put the tray on the table and sat on the carpet with Regina and Belle.

They were all paying attention to the movie when Regina spoke up.. "There's…there's something I think I should let you guys know…however…I am not sure how you both will take this news".

Belle and Katherine put their mugs on the table and turned towards Regina to give her all their attention.

"I…I…am.." Regina took another deep breath; she was finding it hard to tell them. Before she could continue though, it was Katherine who spoke up, "I think I know what you are about to tell us and its alright we will both we here for you Regina, you don't have to worry about anything we will support you in any decision you come to make" the blonde offered a loving smile to Regina and a supporting shoulder squeeze.

They both looked to Belle who was now supporting a puzzled look on her face. Katherine sighed and Regina held her breath. She hoped that Belle would support her like Katherine is.

"I am sorry what did I miss here? Regina?" Belle was now concerned.

" sigh…..Belle…I…I am pregnant" Regina didn't have the energy to look at her friend and see her friend's reaction. She wouldn't be able to take it if another person she loved in her life told her to get rid of her baby; she hoped Belle wouldn't ask her of this.

"Oh..Regina!" Belle had no words on what to say or feel but she knew her friend needed her and she decided that she wouldn't back down, so she engulfed Regina into another hug. "Its alright Regina, like Kat said we will work through this, we both are here to help you".

The night turned out to a very emotional night for all three of them. They decided to go to sleep for now and Belle decided that she would let Regina know about the job offer from Ruben tomorrow morning.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

"I want to thank you both for being so supportive, I still can not believe you both would be so assuring and helpful, I couldn't be more grateful for the way things has turned out for me" Regina said with a content smile on her face, all three of them were sitting around their living room table like the previous night and eating breakfast together.

They both grabbed Regina's hand and smiled at her. "We are just glad you decided to trust us enough to share your troubles, and like I said we are here for you, Regina. Right Belle?" Belle then nodded at them.

"Regina, I wanted to ask you this last night but since the way things turned out I didn't want to burden you even more" Katherine and Regina both looked towards Belle waiting for her to finish what she wanted to say when she got their attention.

"Well..Ruben…um he's one of my superiors from work and we talked yesterday and I told him about how you were looking for a job, so he asked me to ask you about a job offer he currently needs someone to fulfill but I am not sure if this is the job you can handle especially given the circumstances given now" Belle gave them a nervous look, she knew it would be overwhelming for Regina to work with her boss while being new to everything here but now she discovering that her friend is pregnant she wasn't sure this job is at all appropriate for her friend.

"Uh…so the thing is Mr. Swan, the company's CEO, requires a secretary who is willing to work with him from his home. The bonuses being, you will have a place to live at where you don't have to worry about paying any bills since the company will take care of that, food will be provided, transportation will be provided also, and all you have to worry about is any other expenses you have. Your duties being able to maintain everything work related for Mr. Swan, scheduling things for him, arranging meetings for him, basically being available for him for work related issues only. You will both be living at the same place but with separate everything so there won't be any crossing of personal boundaries on both parties, it will be strictly business and professional" Belle interrupted what she had thoroughly discussed with Ruben about the job and its conditions.

She looked at Regina who was now just debating what she should say.

"I think that's a lot to consider Belle besides I think this job is demanding too much" Katherine answered for Regina.

"Kat's right Belle, I have never done a job as a secretary, before even diving into the whole living and working together idea, I have to know and learn what is expected of me from this job….and that will only happen if I get training beforehand" Regina finally voiced out her thoughts.

"Ah..I guess you are right. But Regina you have worked with your mother so that experience might help here a little. Don't you think?" Belle asked at that Regina just gave a slight nod. "But I'll ask Ruben today and see what he says, so don't worry and you don't have to rush through this, we can try other places where you can find a job that will suit you" Belle tried to reassure her friend.

"Alright Belle, lets go I'll drop you off at work today" Katherine offered. "And as for you Regina just try to take it easy today and stay home" Regina just nodded at her in agreement. Soon both Belle and Katherine were out of the door of their apartment after saying good-bye to Regina for the day.

Regina couldn't help but be uneasy from what she learned last night's conversation with Graham. She knew her mother would put all her efforts into finding the whereabouts of her, she knew yet she still couldn't help but feel troubled and worried. She hoped and prayed her mother would just give up on her. _'When will I be free of you mother?!'_ Regina questioned to no one while tears streaming down her face.

Belle &amp; Ruben

"So, how did it go with your friend yesterday?" Ruben asked with some hope receiving good news. It was lunch break; they both had gone out to have lunch together away from prying eyes of their fellow employees. They have been doing this for a week since they couldn't find any other time to be alone; they were still taking things slow. _'Very slow'_ thought Ruben.

Belle couldn't help but avoid looking at Ruben, she didn't know what to say. "Uh…well the thing is, um she needs time to consider this"

"Belle" Ruben said with a serious tone. "You know you can tell me anything, please trust me a little more than that" Ruben asked with a soft to his tone now.

Belle finally decided to look into his eyes, she knew she couldn't just up and reveal her friends secret like that, it wasn't her place to do so, but she also knew her friend needed a job specially now that she will be going through a serious change in her life. She wanted to help her friend but couldn't understand how can she help in the right way. She didn't want Regina to go through anymore that she already have. _'I know for a fact something major happened for her run away from Cora, so why hasn't she told me anything about it yet' _Belle thought with disappointment. She again averted her face away from Ruben.

"It's just she's gong through something and she needs time if she will be making the right decision with accepting a offer like this" Belle finally spoke.

Ruben leaned back into his chair and just stared at Belle, he noticed the change is her behavior, he knew for sure something was going on but he wasn't going to pressure Belle into telling him. _'I hope she will come to trust me a little more than this in the future'._

Without saying another word, they both went to finish up their lunch since their break was going to be over pretty soon.

It had been few days since the job offer and Regina had decided to take the offer. Belle was not completely pleased with the idea; she didn't thought that Regina would actually agree to it. Katherine on the other hand was also worried but didn't know what to think of it.

"Are you really sure about this Regina?" Belle asked with a worried look on her face.

Regina knew her friends were worried for her but she didn't have any other choice, she knew she couldn't just keep on relying on others to do things for her all her life. She decided to take her make her own decisions since the day she left Storybrooke and she wasn't going to back down from it now.

"Belle…Kat, I know you both are worried about me but trust me I need to do this" they both looked at her with confusion. "Alright, there is something else you both need to know about…I hope after that you guys can come to see why I am making such a decision for myself in this condition". They both nodded at the same time without saying any words and waited for Regina to continue.

Then Regina told them about her marriage with Robin, how the marriage was fake and how her supposedly husband was only after her property and the reason her being pregnant. Also her reason for running away because her mother wanted the unborn child rid of.

"Oh god Regina I am so sorry I didn't know, I assumed after you told us about your pregnancy that it was Graham's child since you guys used to be together during college times" Belle tried to express how sorry she was to learn this.

"Oh Belle, was that also the reason you got so upset that day from my conversation with him" Belle again nodded her confirmation. Regina just pulled into her self and hugged her best friend. Belle couldn't help but feel even more stupid at her assumption. "It's alright Belle, you didn't know and I guess it was safe to assume that Graham would be the father since he was the only I had an actual relationship with which my mother also broke"

"Hey hey now, you got us now, we won't let your mother hurt you again" Katherine said with reassurance. She has come to see Regina as a good friend over the past weeks and love her as a good friend too.

"But Regina did you only run away from Cora to save your baby or are you also looking for the father?" Belle managed to break the comfortable silence that Regina was in, that question got both hers and Katherine's attention. Belle looked at her with unknown stare.

"Its both" Regina confirmed. "I…uh…he's from here, or I think he is..thats what both of them told us…so I am hoping at least that part was true" Regina informed them. Hope was the only thing that mattered now. She still didn't know what she was going to do once she figured out about Robin's whereabouts. Her main concern at the moment was her baby.

"I don't think you should believe anything that man has told you" Katherine said with some bitterness to her tone.

"I…I guess you are right…but now my only concern is my unborn child" Regina said with confidence, both of her friends nodded at her in agreement.

"Have you heard anything from your brother lately?" asked David.

"No father, nothing since the last time he left for Europe, I am not even aware if he's still there or not" answered Emmett. Emmett had come to the mansion for the night, he wanted to make sure things were clear between him and his parents about the secretary situation.

"The reason I am here is to clear the bad air about what we talked about in the office…I hope you have given it some thought" Emmett asked this time.

David just looked his son, and nodded. "So..do you agree with my idea?" again David nodded at him. Emmett didn't know what to think of this reaction, he wanted verbal confirmation this only lead him to believe he wasn't happy about it.

They both sat in the open air balcony with their drinks, letting the silence settle in.

"Sigh…son..I don't want you to think I am disappointed in the way you are taking this situation, I just want you to be cautious of every action and decision you make and that is all"

David had leaned back in his chair and was looking up at the black sky full of stars, Emmett stared at him for a little while then spoke again, "Well…we got one candidate coming in tomorrow for the interview, uh she's a friend of one our companies employee" at that David looked towards his son who was still looking at him, Emmett continued again "She's seems like to be the perfect person but I believe tomorrow will tell if that is true or not".

David just gulped down his remaining drink and what he said shocked Emmett. "Well why don't you bring them here, your mother and I can interview them or better yet we can come to the office tomorrow what do you say? What time are they coming?"

"Wha…?" Emmett couldn't believe what he was hearing, his father had never demanded something like this before. "But father….you don't need to do that, I have worker who are capable of interviewing possible future employees".

"Now now…don't be tense my son. Since this individual will be living with you…I think its best if your mother and I can learn little bit about them before we let them in our company and your life"

"Father…I thank you for your concern but there is no need, I am capable of handling myself now" Emmett had actually asked Elsa, the company's manager to interview.

"I know son, but this situation is different and I can assure you your mother will definitely agree with me on this" David pointed out. Emmett nodded his head in defeat; there was no point in arguing about this anymore since David mentioned Mary.

"As you wish, Father. I guess its time to go to bed then" with that Emmett got up and looked his father who didn't made any move to get up. "I'll go in a bit" David said with that Emmett left his father to his own thoughts and silence.

The next morning came, all the Nolan's had already left for the office. Meanwhile, Belle was panicking over the interview even though it wasn't her who was going to be interviewed. But her concern was over the fact that it wasn't Elsa who was going to interview her friend but Mr and Mrs Nolan. All three of them learned about it last night from Ruben, it didn't seem to bother Regina in the slightest but Belle on the other hand was freaking out.

"Don't you think there is something fishy going on here? I mean how come the company's founders are going to interview you, I mean its not their responsibility you know. Its just so odd" Belle said with a nervous laugh. Katherine had wished good luck to Regina and had dropped them off at the office. They had come early just in case. The only thing that now seemed off was how Regina was behaving according to Belle, which was very surprising.

"How come you are not nervous? Like how can you be so calm about this?" Belle tried to voice her questions again. Regina looked at her and closed her eyes for a second and then took a deep breath and let it out and opened her eyes again to look at her friend.

"Trust me I would love to be nervous and scream about this like any normal person but I can not lose to my emotions. I do need this job so I will do whatever it takes to gain it" Regina confirmed her friend with confidence in her eyes. She had decided to accept it she was not going to back out of it now. They sat there in silence for the next minute or so before Regina heard her name being called out.

"Regina Mills!"

As Regina got up she looked at her friend and turned to go into the room where fate was either going to be good or bad for her future.

Happy New Year's Everyone :) 2017


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The Interview…!

"I see" David was looking over Regina's resume with such careful gaze that it made Regina feel uncomfortable. To her these few minutes were feeling like she's been here for about two or more hours. On top of that the silent replies she was getting for her answers were making her feel anxious over and over again. Mrs. Nolan was not in the room when she entered and wondered why that was since it was scheduled it going to be both of them who were going to interview her.

"Everything seems excellent" David said with a nod and put the papers down to look at Regina.

"I expect that you are aware that this situation and this job you are taking up for is sensitive" David said with a stern voice. Regina looked at him and gave a small nod.

"Yes, I am very well aware, and I know it might make other perceive this situation in a wrong way but I am only here to do the job and be professional about it. I have no other agenda or any intentions of taking advantage out of anything" Regina responded with confidence. She felt that Mr. Nolan was trying to test her but she was not going to back down.

"Good, Good…" David said as he leaned back on his chair to relax. "That's all we need from you, to be professional about this and nothing else…..but before I approve you for this job, I would like for you to sign a non-disclosure agreement form".

"Yes of course" Regina replied with a smile. Things seemed to be working out of her. Soon she heard the door click open behind her both Regina and David looked towards the door to see a woman entering the room and closing the door behind her.

"Mary, I was just about to call for you" David said with a smile. He then noticed Mary looking at Regina. "Ah yes this is Regina Mills, she will be working with our son as his secretary, I have already checked all her creditably and everything seems fine" David informed Mary. Regina got up to shake Mary's hand.

"Oh I see" Mary finally spoke, as she got around the table to sit on the chair beside David's chair. She did the same and sat back on her chair. For the next few minutes, Regina sat in silence looking at Mary with a nervous expression as she noticed that Mary was going over her resume as well like David was several minutes earlier.

"Well then, Ms Mills everything seems to be in order. Congratulations!" Mary offered with a sweet smile on her face.

"Thank you Mrs. Nolan" Regina replied with a content smile of her own.

"Now then, you will be working with our manager, Elsa, for a week at least to learn about the things you need to know as our son's secretary, if you like you can start today and meet your boss as well by the end of the day. So what do you say Miss Mills" asked Mary.

As Regina got out of the office, Belle came running up to her with a serious expression on her face. "So…how did it go?"

"Well…" Regina said with a downward expression. Belle saw it and became even more worried but then was confused when she saw her friend giving her a smile. "I got the job!" Regina finally blurted out. "And I can start today and start working with the Manager, Elsa"

"Oh thank god, you scared me there for a second Regina, by the way congratulations, I am so happy for you" Belle said with a smile and hugged her friend.

"Okay lets get you to meet Elsa, I know where she is" with that they both left the waiting area.

Once they reached Elsa who was few floors down, Belle introduced Regina to Elsa and they talked for a bit before Belle decided it was time for her to go back to her work as well. Regina noticed Elsa was quite beautiful with blonde hair that reached her shoulders and a tall slender figure, blue eyes and pale skin with few subtle freckles. She also couldn't help notice the attire that Elsa was in; white button up shirt with a black blazer and matching color trousers with closed flat shoes.

"So….were you nervous meeting Mr and Mrs Nolan for the interview?" asked Elsa, getting Regina out of her daze.

"I suppose, but I couldn't let my emotions ruin this for me, besides I need the job for various reasons" Regina vaguely informed.

"Hmm" was Elsa's response. "Well let's get you acquainted with everyone you need to know and then you can finally meet Mr. Swan, your boss".

"Mr. Swan?" asked Regina with confusion. "Does he not refer to himself as a Nolan?!"

"Uh yeah…that's the thing with him, he prefers it that way and before you ask….I myself have no clue as to why" Elsa said stopping Regina's curiosity.

"Oh and you will be working here at the office for a week or so to learn about the company and acquire all the skills you need before you are moved with Mr. Swan. The job itself is not stressful compared to the person you are going to be working for….lets just say Mr. Swan can be pretty intimidating at times and likes to push people beyond there limits of course depending on the moods he's in…" Elsa added with sincere concern for Regina. When Regina didn't answer Elsa continued again. "Look I am not trying to make you back out of this…I am just letting you know what you might be expecting".

Regina just smiled at her not letting her concerns show on her face. "Don't worry….I will try my best to handle Mr. Swan". _'He can't be worse than my mother…..can he?!'_ Regina questioned herself.

"That right there!" Elsa said with a big smile that got Regina out of her thoughts to look at what Elsa was talking about. "Your confidence is what I love…it will help you a great deal" Elsa finished, giving a sweet smile to Regina. Regina just smiled back at her. The day was turning out to be good.

Even though she wasn't doing any hard-core physical labor but walking around all day meeting several people and trying to keep up with what they represented for the company was starting to take a toll on Regina. There were some who she liked and they liked her back but mostly from the higher levels tried to look down on her but she was not going to let them have any effect on her. When afternoon came around Elsa and Belle invited her to lunch separately but she decided to go with Elsa in the office cafeteria because Elsa still wanted to discuss few things about what her work could expect from her. After lunch however, Elsa finally went into the whole thing about being a secretary and how she was going to be dealing with people as 'Mr. Swan's' secretary.

Belle &amp; Ruben during lunch…..

"Regina's going to be having lunch with Elsa" Belle said with a sad face. Ruben couldn't help but feel sad himself for his love…but then his eyes went wide with shock.

"Wait…wait…did you just say Regina?" Belle nodded at him. 'Please tell me its not the same Regina….'

"Uhmm….your friend doesn't happen to be Regina Mills now does she?" Ruben asked with a nervous smile.

At the mention of her friend Belle gave Ruben a smile and confirmed his doubt with a nod. Ruben internally groaned at himself. 'Seriously! You have to be kidding me! Out of all the girls my love is friends with the same girl Emmett seemed to dislike….Oh oh why is this happening to me?!" Ruben asked himself as he looked up at the sky.

"Ruben…are you alright?" Belle asked, concerned when Ruben didn't say anything back and was now holding a expression that made him look like he was in pain.

"Is something hurting you, you look like you are in pain?" Belle asked again. Ruben tried his best to smile and nod at Belle. "Yeah I am all right and don't worry you have me for lunch today so don't be sad" Ruben said while trying to cover up his own worries. Belle just smiled at him confirming that nothing was wrong when she noticed Ruben was back in his previous mood and nodded back at him. They then both went to their favorite café.

_'__What should I do?'_ was Ruben's thought before he closed door behind his back as they went inside the café.

It was now 5 pm. Elsa was alone in her office when she heard a loud noise and saw someone burst into her office. "Whoa easy there tiger" Elsa said with a seductive voice when she saw who it was. She got up from her chain and went up to the person and circled her arms around his neck. "I always liked your wild side…Ruben" Elsa purred in Ruben's ears.

Ruben grabbed both of her arms and took it off of him. "I am not here for this Elsa. I need to see Regina…I was told that she was with you for the day" Ruben said while giving Elsa a glare to make her back off.

"Hmm….that's right but…what will I get in return for telling you about her whereabouts…hmm"

"DAMN IT ELSA!….I don't have time for this so just tell me where she at…RIGHT NOW!" Ruben finally yelled in frustration. He's been going around the whole building trying to crash into them at any of the departments but with no luck that didn't happen so when he received a call that Elsa had come into her office he was Belle whose place was very far away from Elsa's office so he left in a rush to again try his luck to catch them.

"Geez..you don't have to yell….I received a call letting me know that Mr. Swan was about to come into the office so I told her to wait in his office…so hopefully she there waiting" Elsa informed, she was trying to be playful with Ruben like they had been in the past but she never imagined he would yelling at her for it. "Is everything alright with you?"

"Uh..Yeah" Ruben answered her. He let the information sink in and was wondering if he would be able to make it to Emmett's office before a disaster could happen. "I am sorry about yelling…its just…uh…nevermind..i have to go…I'll uh….thanks" Ruben said while he rushed out of the room leaving Elsa confused as to what just happened.

Guys I just wanted to let you know…I'm not completely following the plot line of every single episode of the show….I am replacing some of scenes from the show with my own plot line…but majority of the story will be similar to the show. Thank you guys for reading.


	31. Author's notice

Sorry guys but i will be updating soon, hopefully and thank you again for your patients with me. I also appreciate the reviews from some of you. it helps me to motivate to continue my story. :)


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

_'__Ok Regina, don't be nervous, you have to make a best impression'_…sigh…_'you need this job' _her hand went to her flat stomach. She closed her eyes for a second, and opened them again. As she was about to get up from the chair where she was sitting at, in front of Emmet's desk, she heard the door open. As she was about to turn around and greet her boss, before she could get any other word out she noticed who was now standing by the open door.

All the anger from those previous incidents came rushing back to her mind; she raised her hand to point a finger at the person in front of her.

"YOU! How dare you?! What do you think you are doing here?" As the person was about to speak, Regina didn't let him. "No you don't get to say anything to me anymore. Who do you think you are? Are you stalking me now?! No….No…I won't let you ruin this for me….whatever hatred you have for me…I won't let it destroy my chance at happiness. So please get the hell out from here because my boss will here any minute…and I am sure you will try to destroy this for me as well" Regina let out her frustration with a pointed look at the person. They were both staring at each other with such intensity that they didn't notice anyone else enter the office. Regina had backed up when the other person had started advancing on her, letting himself into the office.

"Miss Mills?" Regina heard someone say from behind the she was glaring at. She took glance at the other person who decided to interrupt her dispute. "Miss Mills, uh Hi, its me Ruben…remember…uh well as for your questions…..um I would say this individual right in front of you is your boss, Mr. Swan" Regina took that moment to let the words sink in and couldn't help but gasp in shock, she finally noticed the angry expression and those greenish eyes bore into her soul. She couldn't help but swallow an empty swallow and feel her head spinning.

Strong hands help her up before she could hit the floor. She again did the mistake of looking into those eyes and feel the anger. He pulled her a little closer to him.

"Em…don't….please listen to me first" Ruben tried to calm his friend down, he knew things wouldn't end well if he didn't try to interfere. But Emmett didn't respond to his plea. He continued staring at the girl in front of him, his anger going out of control. He closed eyes for a little bit and opened them again.

"If this is how you are going to treat your boss…..me….then I would suggest that you pack your things and leave because I have no desire to ever see you again" He wanted to yell at her but he had a really long day which was tiring enough as it was, he definitely didn't needed a foolish girl ruin his evening time for him. He wanted her out of his sight as soon as possible.

"Em…come on leave the girl alone…I assure you she didn't intend for this to happen" at that Emmett lightly pushed Regina who ended up sitting on the chair she was previously sitting on and looked up to see Emmett turning towards his friend.

"And how would you know this Ruben? Hmmm unless you were already aware that this girl was walking around my company all day without having any slightest of an idea who her boss is….don't you think that's a little too much!?" Ruben didn't know what to say. It wasn't like he was aware of this fact but Emmett won't easily forgive him for this mistake.

"Look Em…listen" he tried to get his friend to listen who was having none of it. "Oh come on Em….I had no idea she was friends with Belle….besides it was not me who interviewed her and I know I was suppose and you know I wouldn't it get this far if I was aware of this…I hope you do realize..you parents are the one who interviewed her and hired" Ruben tried to reason.

Regina was so confused at this point, at one moment she was being stared down at so horribly and now completely ignored like she was not even in the room. She looked up at both friends and noticed the tension looming around them at the mention of Emmett's parents.

Before she could speak her mind, Ruben came up to her. "Miss Mills…uh I am sorry for the way things have turned out but please leave for now and uh I will make sure to contact you tomorrow as soon as possible" he said while holding his hand out for her to hold on and get up. She took his hand and stood up, he walked her to the door and they both stood outside the office.

"Umm…."Regina had no words as to what she should say, she knew she screwed up so horribly, her mother would surely be disappointed at her. "Please…..I assure you what ever I said back there to uh Mr. umm Swan it was from the spur of the moment but I was also not aware that it was going to be him who was going to be my boss. I…uh I really need this job…I have no other option"

Ruben could see that her concern was genuine but he didn't know how things would turn out after this. He knows that Emmett will never agree to her being his secretary. "I understand, but all I can say is I will try and see but everything else is up to Emmett and his decision" Ruben informed her and saw her face sadden at the mention of his friend.

At that Regina just decided to leave for now, she knew nothing could save her from the mess she herself created and all she could do was hope for a miracle to happen.

Ruben went back to the room after Regina had left and noticed his friend sitting on his chair with a drink in his hand. "You know, your mother will be every upset if she saw you right now."

"Well she isn't here, so no harm done" Emmett replied with some bitterness to his tone.

"Em…it wasn't like they knew who she was and you can't blame this on me either" Ruben tried to defend himself. His friend still didn't spare him any glance.

"You are free to go Ruben, enjoy the rest of the evening" Emmett dismissed him not wanting to hear anymore.

Ruben ignored his friends' dismissal and sat on the chair where few moments ago Regina Mills was sitting. "You never know she might be what you are looking for, Em"

"And pray tell what the hell is that suppose to mean Ruben?!" Emmett looked at his friend but with the same furious eyes that were directed at Regina were now being directed at his friend.

"WHAT?! No that's not what I mean't! I was talking about how she seems suitable for the job, and besides I don't believe you will have any say on this because your parents were the one who hired her".

"Ha…don't you worry about my parents, I will handle them" Emmett said with a strong tone. Ruben couldn't help but feel as if his friend was probably planning something and he was not going to learn about it anytime soon.

"Em…why are you turning this matter into a personal battle, it was just a bad deal and we have had those before too so why are you so keen on her for it"

"Did you see the way she talked to me? It's not just me still hanging around on it, its her too. Besides I will never work along with someone like her" Emmett said as he got up from his chair and walked to the door. "I don't want to talk about this, I'll be heading home for now. I want you to come over to the mansion tomorrow morning" Emmett left without waiting for his friend's response.

Meanwhile…Belle &amp; Regina..&amp; Katherine….

"Are you going to talk to me now? Please tell me what's wrong? What happened in there?" They had just reached the apartment; Belle took both of their stuff and put it away. Regina hadn't said a single word since they left office. But the way she was being quite and the fear on her face was clear for anyone to see.

"Belle…Regina….you guys came early too I see" Katherine greeted them with a smile. "So how did it go Regina?"

"Kat…I think something happened and she's not telling me anything at all!" Katherine then looked up from what she was doing and noticed that indeed something was wrong with her friend. She put away the spoon in her hand on the kitchen counter and came into the living room to sit with her friends. She immediately wrapped her arms around Regina and tried to comfort her. "Hey….hey now…you can tell us what's wrong, you know we always want to help you so please Regina don't shut us out" Katherine said with a soft tone, while she looked at Belle and saw her giving her a encouraging smile.

The next thing both of them heard were sobbing sounds coming from Regina. "I don't know why but I always seem to ruin everything for myself" Regina managed to muffled out while trying her hardest not to cry but the tears were pouring out of her. Katherine and Belle didn't say anything instead Belle started to rub Regina's back and Katherine let Regina cry on her and let it all out.

"Please Regina….don't be so hard on yourself…." Belle finally spoke up, still trying to comfort her friend. They all sat in silence now…when she was done breaking down, she got off of Katherine and looked at both of her friends, she was so glad to have them support her, it made her smile a little. But her smile went away right when she started thinking about what had just happened half an hour ago.

"Guys…I can't believe this is happening….he was there during my marriage time, its him, he's suppose to be the person I am to live with and work for…I don't think it would be wise to do so…I don't think I can take it" sigh…it was crashing down on her now, she thought at the moment it would be alright but not anymore, even if its such a good opportunity for her to have a stable life but she didn't think it was possible anymore.

"Wait a second…who are we talking about here?" Belle asked about whatever her friend was saying wasn't making any sense to her or Katherine.

"Is it Robin? Is he back in New York?!" Katherine couldn't help but feel the anger rising inside of her, at even the thought of that person being near her friend again.

Regina shook her head and looked at her friends. "No…its not him…its Mr. and Mrs. Nolan's son, he was there after the whole marriage fiasco. I don't know if him or Robin are related or what but he seemed to had the same property papers that my mother gave it to us after the marriage. He was there to get them signed and take my land but I didn't sign them and now…now, well lets just say whenever we stumbled upon each other it never ended on a good note" She buried her face in her hands trying her hardest not to break down again, this was definitely taking a toll on her.

"But that was few weeks ago" suddenly it dawned on them, "surely he can't still be holding a grudge against you for something like that….you are a victim of a fraud" Katherine stressed out her thoughts.

"Yes but he doesn't know that…besides I uh ended up ripping the papers and threw them up in the air" this Regina now realized was her biggest mistake she had made.

"Oh god…..why….in the….why would you do that? Gods Regina…" Belle said with a horrifying expression on her face. She then looked at her friend expecting her to explain her reason or cause for doing something so childish.

"What!" Regina said not understanding how she could be at fault for something like this. "I was already angry with the whole thing with Robin then he stormed in like he owned the world or something demanding me to sign the papers" her frustration over the whole situation was back again. "Ugh….I can't take this I am going to sleep" she then got up and stormed towards the room she shared with Belle.

Belle also got up "Regina! Wait!" she called after her friend who ignored her and went her way.

"Let it go Belle…she's clearly exhausted" Katherine finally said. "We can finish talking about this tomorrow morning. I guess we won't we eating dinner tonight….sigh"

"I just can't….first her mother and now this…what are we going to do Kat?…I am so worried for her" Katherine couldn't help but feel concerned as well, she was also trying to wrap her mind around all of this. "I am sure we can help her get past this" Katherine tried to take away her friends' worry, but she knew they had to figure this out.

"Have you talked to Ruben about this?" Belle shook her head for a no. "Hmm…I am sure he's aware of this as well…try asking if he can help Regina with the job, you and me both know why she was so intent on having this job" Belle nodded at her friend and got up to go to the balcony and call Ruben and see if Regina still stood chance at getting the job.

Hey guys...Just wanted to let you guys know that there is a first i believe Indian lesbian web series called "The Other Love Story" check out the trailer its on youtube and i think you guys will like it. :)


	33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

When morning came Belle had told both her friends about Ruben, who had gone to the Nolan's place to discuss surely about Regina. She had left for work and so did Katherine even though both wanted to stay with Regina, they had workplaces to be at which couldn't be ignored. Regina promised them that she would stay home and would try not to stress much about things even thought it seemed less possible to do so.

On the other hand, the elder Nolan's couldn't understand why their son was so against Regina. To them everything seemed accurate to them for the job, they both couldn't help but notice that their son was involving personal feelings into a business deal.

"Emmett, I thought I taught you to never try to involve your personal feelings into any types of business deal…so why am I noticing such change in you from this situation, YOU very well know it's not accepted when it comes to the company" David had not heard a single definite reason why they should not hire Regina as their son's secretary.

"Father….it was because of her stupidity that I had to let go such a good deal, that land would have benefitted our company a lot but because of her ignorance she decide to insult me and rip the paper apart and refuse to give what was suppose to be rightfully ours….I can't work with her…she's not right for our company"

"Alright….how about this then? Why don't you try to clear up what happened and see if you both can come to terms with each other….because Em…she has potential and credibility at such a young age I think she will do right by our company. You just have to at least give her a chance" Mary decided to speak up.

Ruben decided it was better if he didn't butt into the conversation cause it was stressful enough to handle one Nolan but three at the same time.. _'God no!'_ he thought while he looked between the people sitting around him. Emmett was now supporting a frown on his face he didn't seem to like his mother's idea at all but Ruben knew it was going to be hard for his friend to go against his mother. _'Haa…she got you man!'_

"Ruben is there something you want to say about this girl…I remember you accompanying our son to Storybrooke" Ruben was sure that David saw him smiling at his friend and now he was in the spotlight. Mary was smiling at him and his friend was giving him the stare, which was telling him to say what he wanted him to say.

"Well….I think Mrs…I mean Mary is right, we shouldn't bring in personal feelings and see if her potential keeps her in the company" more than on what to say Ruben tried his best not to look at his friend, he knew he was being a subject to his deadly glare but he was not doing this to mess around with his friend but to actually see if Regina would be capable of working alongside his friend. _'Well…that's something to look forward to now'_. He thought as he passed a small smile at his friend and his parents.

"Hmm…so are we clear on this now? Son!" David asked. He knew his son didn't like the idea but he also knew his wife had best interests for their son and the company.

Emmett then looked at them and nodded his head. "Yes, we are clear…I guess I will take my leave now. Lets get back to the office Ruben".

"Don't you want to stay to eat with us Em? Ruben?" Mary offered.

"Yes"

"No"

Mary looked at them confused for different answers. More than her son, it was his friend who seemed to be more excited at the mention of food. She knew her son didn't want to agree to what she proposed but to her it seemed to be the valid solution. She just smiled them and nodded her head towards the dinning table. They all then sat on the chairs and breakfast was served to them. Ruben had let go of his nervousness and dived into the food right away. Emmett on the other hand was still being grumpy about for the way things turned out.

They finished eating after a while and Emmett decided they should leave already which they did, leaving David and Mary alone in the mansion.

"I hate that he likes to distance himself from us..from everything else… but work" Mary spoke into the silence now with a frown on her face. David came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, Mary let herself lean into her husband's touch feeling herself relax.

"Don't worry, he will come back to us, we just have to give him more time" David assured her. Then he felt his wife turn around and face him.

"But for how much longer it has been several years since then" Mary then hid her face in her husband's neck and let the tears come out.

"Oh snow…don't cry I am sure, everything will be alright and this time I promise you I will make everything right again"

They both continued to hold onto each other and feel each other's support and comfort. There was no such better feeling then this except maybe again seeing their son be happy and alive once more.

(I will use 'Snow' as a nickname for Mary Margaret, only David I guess will refer to her with that name…)

"What the hell?! Ruben….why didn't you say anything against that girl, you know…you saw how her and her family treated us so why the hell did you agree to this ridiculous idea!" Emmett was fuming inside, they had just stepped outside the mansion and while Ruben was sitting inside the car on the driver's side waiting for his friend to get in, Emmett was pacing back and forth in front of the car.

"Em..get in we can talk about this when we get to the office" Ruben said while patiently waiting for his friend to listen to him. When Em didn't say anything nor listened to him, he stepped out of the car and walked in front of it stopping his friend from pacing again. They were now facing each other, Emmett still with his grumpy look on his face.

"You know you have such a nice looking face so why do you ruin it with that grumpy old look all the time" Ruben knew it was no time for jokes but his friend was needed to learn how to let things be sometimes.

He then noticed that the grumpy look turned even more angrier and probably wasn't going to lead to anything good.

"Are you seriously joking right now? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND RUBEN?" Emmett finally yelled at him. _'Ah here we go….let it out Em'_

"TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS THAT GIRL…THAT…SHE'S NOTHING BUT TROUBLE, I AM TELING YOU RIGHT NOW, SHE'S GOING TO BE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE" by now Emmett was all over his friend's face, yelling straight at him.

"Okay! Okay!… first of all back off and stop yelling at me" Emmett decided to back off and stop and stare at his friend to see what he was about to say now to infuriate him further.

"Listen Em….I get it…she gets to you…we need to work around that…remember its just a job she's going to be doing for you…and you are making it sound like you are being forced into an arranged marriage with her because then I would understand all this personal outburst of yours" yep another harmless joke which didn't seem to be so harmless to his friend at the moment.

"Can you just not with the damn jokes!? I have no desire to be with her in anyway…work related or not!"

"Hmm…" Ruben paused and smiled at his now calm friend. "If you say so….but Em you can't take the job away from her, Mary wants to see her work and I agree that we should at least give her a chance…come one Em" Ruben tried to change his friend's decision who was set on getting rid of the girl.

"I don't know Ruben…for some reason…I just don't want her around me at all" Ruben could feel the tone of his friend's voice going soft. "But I guess you are right..there's nothing wrong with giving her a chance….but just one chance Ruben and that's all". Emmett warned him, he knew he won't be able to make his mother change her mind about this anymore, it would be pointless. "Lets just go…I want to get my mind off of this mess".

When they reached the office Ruben decided to go see Belle meanwhile Emmett went to his office.

"I was afraid you wouldn't show up today..not after yesterday" Ruben spoke, Belle was so into her work, organizing papers and such that she didn't even notice Ruben walk in and stand by the desk.

"Oh! Ruben…its you" Ruben then nodded his head and looked around to if someone else was suppose to be here. "You just startled me when you announced your presence" Ruben then laughed at her statement.

"I am sorry I didn't mean to, I just wanted to drop by and check in to see if you came in today"

"No its alright and yea I had to" Belle gave him a small smile. Ruben just nodded his head again, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"I—uh I…how's your friend?...uh…Regina I mean"

Belle tried not to let the worry show on her face and nodded at Ruben. "She's alright".

"Belle you don't have to lie to me. I know after yesterday….well never mind that but I think what I am about to tell you might cheer you up" at that he got her attention.

"Anddd…what might that be?" Belle was amused now.

"Hm I don't know maybe…..that your friend….." Belle then nodded her head at him when he didn't continue, "Well she might not have to look for another job…" When again Ruben stopped mid sentence, Belle finally decided to speak.

"Ruben..please if you have something to tell me then please tell me straight out…this pausing in between is making me anxious"

"Awww…." he said while he went around the desk to wrap Belle in his arms and feel close to her. Belle just leaned into his body and tried to feel relaxed but was still waiting for what Ruben had to say. She then broke herself out of his hug. "Ruben….uh we shouldn't be behaving like this during work" She nervously voiced out, trying not to make Ruben feel offended by her comment.

"Uh…Yea, yea your right…I am sorry" Ruben then cleared his throat and offered Belle a small smile who was now standing few feets away from him. "And….as I was saying earlier..well the good news is that Mr. and Mrs. Nolan wants to see Regina want to keep Regina and see her work for the company" Ruben then noticed the big smile that was now on Belle's face, he was happy to see her that way. _'At least she's feeling better now'_. Ruben himself was feeling better now too.

"Thank you..thank you…thank you so much, Ruben" Belle squealed out in happiness. She was lost in her happiness for her Regina that she ended hugging Ruben herself this time. Ruben without thinking wrapped his arms around her again. They were so lost into each other's touch that even they didn't know how long they were standing there in each other arms.

"I am glad to be of any help for you Belle" Ruben voice finally got Belle out of her comfort daze and this time she decided to not break away from Ruben but instead looked up to his face and into his eyes. She didn't know how it happened or why but all of a sudden their lips were on each other, it wasn't a rough kiss like she thought it would be but instead it was a soft kiss they both shared with each other. _'Soft and sweet' _Belle thought with a smile and her hand touching where Ruben's lips were few seconds ago, both of their eyes were still closed taking in the feel of the kiss. Belle was the first to open her eyes and she looked in front of to see that Ruben still had his eyes closed and was smiling.

Belle couldn't help but smile herself. "Ruben…you can open your eyes now" she told him.

Ruben didn't reply but he wrapped his arms a little tighter around Belle and snuggled her into him, putting his cheek on top of her head. "But it feels so much better to stay this way" he reasoned out.

Belle had her head laid on his chest; she again decided to break out of their trance. That's when Ruben finally opened his eyes and looked at her intensely. "Gosh…you are so beautiful…Belle" he then let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding in.

Belle just blushed at the comment and lightly pushed Ruben away. "And you are quite handsome yourself" Belle then teased him back with a sweet smile of hers. They then talked for a little while; Ruben then decided to go to his office room but not before inviting Belle again for lunch like he has been doing for the past few weeks.

(I know…I know….I wasn't planning on making them kiss at all not until after their first date (which I will try my best to make them have one) but I thought about giving Ruben a break like he's already dealing with his friend's outbursts every now and then…..so might as well to take his mind off the stress…..hope you guys enjoyed it :)


	34. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

When Regina learned that she wasn't fired from her job, she didn't know what to feel. She was happy but also very confused but then Belle told her that Emmett was still against her but his parents wanted her to work. Now it has been a week since she has been working at the company, she could say she was getting used to everything and was doing a good job. But the only thing bothering her now was that she hasn't been around her boss or has seen him, it looked to her as if, he was doing a great job at avoiding her at all costs.

"Regina don't beat yourself up for it, if he wants to see you or talk to you he will let you know, I mean come the guy runs the company. He can do whatever he pleases. Just give it time" Belle has been having lunches with Regina sometimes during week since Regina has started. She wanted to make Regina feel comfortable around the workplace as much she could.

"I know….but…I have been….well actually I had thought about apologizing right away…I mean uh…."

"Regina…what is it?" Belle asked.

"I don't know how I am going to face him now…I thought I will apologize and then we could start working out our differences if it was going to be a problem…but now it looks like…..he doesn't even want me to be around him so how the hell am I going to be working for him….starting next week" Regina now had her head in her hands….this thought had been bothering her for a while now. If the person who she has been getting trained for wasn't even going to tolerate her presence then she was just wasting her time here.

"I am sure…that's not the case Regina" Belle then saw her friend stare at her. "Okay..alright…maybe it's the case but you never know he could have been so occupied that he didn't have time to be around"

Regina then rolled her eyes at her friend's comment. "Belle..he's running the company….how could he not be around it"

"Hey….I have been working here longer than you…..trust me…he likes to go deal around with the outside world rather than stay cooped up in here all day…that's where Ruben comes in..I suppose" Regina then nodded her head in understanding.

She then gave her friend a secretive smile. "Speaking of Ruben…what's going on between you two? Hmm"

Belle couldn't help but blush at the question. "I…we-well…we have been seeing each other for few weeks now…and we are having our first date tomorrow" Regina could see the happiness on her friend's face. "Aww Belle…that's so nice..well I hope you guys have a good time" Regina then offered her a smile. They both stayed for a while talking before going their separate ways to get back to work.

It was late in the evening; almost everyone had gone home for the day. Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in" came the call from the behind the closed door.

Emmett was sitting in his chair reading over a file. When the door opened, he didn't look up assuming it was one of the company's janitors coming in to clean up.

"Nick…can you come do this tomorrow morning…I will be to staying in here for a little while" Emmett spoke up not realizing whom he was speaking to.

"I could, but I thought I wasn't hired for that position" Regina blurted out without thinking. Finally Emmett looked up and saw who had decided to come into his office.

Regina let herself in when he didn't say anything and walked to the desk to stand in front of it. Emmett stopped reading the file and closed it and pulled the chair back a little and leaned back, putting his hands on the chair's arms.

"I hope you didn't lose your way back to home" When Regina shook her head for a no, he continued trying his hardest to not yell at the girl. "I see…so was there a reason you dropped by? Because I don't recall arranging a meeting with you at all" he finally asked.

"Well…since I will be working you….with you directly….I thought we should clear any misunderstandings we have had so far…..and try to be uh…more professional with each other" Regina said while feeling all of her nerves in her body on alert, and at the same time fidgeting with her hands. She tried her best to make eye contact but couldn't help but move her eyes away from those greenish eyes every now and then. But she knew those greenish eyes kept on staring at her with their intensity like before, this time not she hoped it wasn't anger.

Emmett didn't say anything; he was just sitting on his chair looking at her. When few minutes had passed by Regina decided to break the silence. "Mr. Swan?"

Suddenly, he got up from his chair and walked around the table to stand besides the other chair that was opposite of his chair. He pulled the chair out and motioned for Regina to take the seat. Regina not wanting to be anymore rude decided to sit down. When she had sat down, Emmett walked away from her to the office window that was behind his chair. He stood there with his back to Regina and then turned around to face her again.

"Miss Mills…..I would be more than happy to just build a professional relationship with you and that's all because to me only two things are important: my parents and this company. For them and for the good of this company, I am willing to put aside any personal disputes we have had so far and be civil with each other" Emmett said with a straight face.

"But for the past week, you have been avoiding…..I mean I haven't worked with you at all and well it looked like you didn't want me around you at all" Regina corrected herself at the last minute before she ended up creating an another dispute between them.

Emmett just shook his head and rubbed his face in frustration. "Re-Miss. Mills…you were getting trained during those days and I hope you are that you will work directly with starting next week, also you are to shift to…my place this Sunday"

Regina was confused for second before she realized what he was talking about. "Ah…yes, I will be there" Emmett just let out a tired sigh.

"Alright! If that is all…you are free to leave," Emmett said trying not to sound annoyed.

Regina didn't say anything back, she just got up and walked to the door and opened it to leave but not before looking back to see that her boss was now sitting on his chair with his head thrown back and eyes closed up. Regina shook herself out of her staring and walked out of the door to go meet with Belle to go home.

When she reached Belle, she saw that Ruben was there as well. She smiled at them both and Belle told her that Ruben had decided to give them a ride home. Which they accepted, it took them 15 minutes to get to their place. Ruben asked Belle to stay with for few minutes and Regina upon hearing this decided to leave the two alone.

When she opened the apartment and went inside, she noticed that Katherine wasn't back from work yet. '_I guess she's coming late today again'_. Sigh. She put her stuff away and went to the room she shared with Belle to change her clothes. After she has done, she heard her stomach growl. She laughed at her stomach and decided to go to the kitchen to see if there was anything available.

As she was looking through, she heard the front door open and close. She put some of the stuff she had gotten out of the fridge on the counter and walked towards the living room to see both Katherine and Belle put their stuff away as well.

"You guys hungry?" they both nodded their head so quickly that Regina couldn't help but laugh out loud. Belle and Katherine just looked at each other and smiled. They felt good knowing that their friend was feeling much better now from few days back.

They both walked into the kitchen and started helping each other out. "Not that we are complaining or anything but what's with the smiling, Regina?" Katherine asked, curious.

"Huh..uh nothing…nothing at all" Regina said, trying to avoid her friend's interrogation.

Belle and Katherine then glanced each other. They were sure now that something good must have happened to make Regina feel better all of a sudden.

"Guys, I can feel you two giving each other the stare, where you both think I am hiding something good" She then turned around, stopping what ever she was doing to look at her friends, smiling at them. "First lets eat and then we can talk because I know you both won't leave me alone if I didn't".

They then moved to their room, and sat around the table that was in the middle of the room.

After a while when they had finished eating, Belle and Regina picked up the dishes and together they cleaned them up. When that was done they came back to the living room and saw Katherine flipping channels on the tv trying to find something good to watch. When she couldn't and saw her friends sit around her, she turned the tv off and gave them her attention.

"So…" Belle decided to ask the obvious. "I know you were still upset during lunch..so what happened?"

"Guys do I really need a reason to be happy….the day might have felt heavy but it ended on a good note" Regina then told them. they both nodded at her trying to understand the meaning behind the words.

"Okaaayyy…..now again…what happened?" Belle was not going to be fooled easily.

Regina let out a sigh in defeat and looked at her friends. They were both looking at her, waiting for her to say something.

"You know how I went to see Mr. Swan" she asked looking at Belle, who nodded at her.

"Well…it was our first ever pleasant meeting with each other compared to the past meetings we have had" Regina told them…..they still looked at her as if asking her to tell them more.

"Well that's it" she finished.

"Oh come on, so you didn't try to ask if he was actually trying to avoid working with you all week long?" Belle then blurted out the main question. Katherine just looked at her two friends, finding herself being amused with the conversation.

"Oh about that…I tried but I don't think I received a clear answer to that but he reminded me about moving to his place this Sunday…gosh that sounds way too personal out loud" Regina cringed at the thought.

"Hmm..is that all?" Katherine finally spoke up.

"I….I-I uh might have found our conversation entertaining because….for some reason….I could feel that he was holding back his anger…and well that was a sight to be seen…" Regina then laughed at her own comment, thinking about the meeting from several minutes ago. Before her friends could say anything about it Regina didn't let them.

"Oh god, no matter what…his eyes….those greenish eyes can never lie to you…..I mean I could particularly feel his eyes screaming at me….I didn't know what to feel at the moment…be afraid or just laugh or scream…I don't know…but now that I think about it, the whole situation was laughable" she then looked at her friend who were looking at her with their mouths slightly opened.

"Is something the matter?...Guys?" She then asked when her friends kept staring at her with their mouths still hanging open. "Alright…you guys stay here and enjoy catching some flies while you are at it…..I am going to bed" she then got up and went to the room but now both her friends had closed their mouths and were trying to make sense of what Regina had just told them.

"What the hell was that?" Katherine was the first to speak. Belle just shook head at her, she herself not understanding what the comment indicated about their friend.

"Did she just sort of daydreamed about the conversation she just had with him several minutes ago?" Katherine then nodded her head in a yes motion at Belle, who was also nodding her head.

"Let's just—let's just go to sleep" Belle then said. They then both went to their rooms without saying another word.

Ruben had gone back to the office to meet up with Emmett after he had dropped Belle and Regina off. They were currently sitting in Emmett's office; Emmett had opened up the window behind him to let some night's fresh air in. Ruben was leaning on the window feeling the night air hit his face; Emmett was again resting on his chair.

"You still angry at her?" Ruben then asked.

Emmett didn't say anything….he let the question sink in. "I'm not angry just careful, that's all"

Ruben couldn't help but let out "Hmph" at the statement. "Come on….Em tell me the truth now"

"The truth?" Emmett toyed with the word. He knew it was pointless to hide this from his friend because he will see through his disguise. "You know..before her when ever I would look at another girl, I would see Lilly's face in them, like a constant flashback of what she did to me. It was like, who ever I saw I would see her face and feel all the hurt, the pain and anger come back to me ten folds" Ruben turned away from the window and put his hand on his friend's shoulder in comfort.

"Em…I get it, its same with her and having her this close is probably going to be torturing for you" Ruben sympathized.

Emmett then abruptly got up "No..Ruben…that's the thing I don't understand myself…..when ever I look at her I don't see Lilly's face anymore, its like Lilly and everything about her just disappears to somewhere and that is the thing that's been bothering me and irritating me ever since I have met her"

"Wait…shouldn't that be a good thing for you Em….i mean you are able to let go of all that pain and suffering when you see her, so shouldn't you be feeling relieved" Ruben tried to look at the positive side of it and show to it his friend.

"But how can that be with any other girl I would be reminded of Lilly and her betrayal but with her I forget about it in a second….like what the hell is this? Like don't it seem strange to you?" Emmett asked him then, hoping that Ruben could solve this mystery for him.

"Hey..hey..calm down….why don't you relax a little and stop over thinking this…" When Emmett sat down again and started to relax, Ruben decided to speak again. "It could be that maybe…..you should see this as a good thing, I mean shouldn't you be feeling glad that finally there is someone who can make you see that not everyone is out to betray you Em….that not every individual is the same"

Emmett was taking in slow breaths, in and out, in and out. He got up and started putting everything away.

"I—lets just go home Ruben. I don't want to think about this anymore" when he was done clearing out his desk. He got the things he needed and started to walk towards the door. Ruben closed and locked window of the office, when he was done he picked his keys from the desk and went out the door himself and locked it behind him.

'How long will you keep avoiding everything Em?' Ruben questioned in his mind, when he saw his friend walking ahead of him, eager to go home.

'I guess its been a long day' Ruben thought to himself.


	35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

(Okay guys, I might have not followed the whole concept with Emmett's past or the main character from the tv show this story is based on...i thought it would be interesting to add something corny and cheesy like this where Emmett is able to view only Regina with a different view...rather then comparing her to Lilly. I think his anger or frustration this way is justified in a way that he likes to be control and now he has come against a situation where he has less control of. If you guys would like check out the characters from the show, their names are Geet and Mann you will be able to find song videos of them on youtube, I have one here its my favorite and its titled "Maaneet - Hua Hai Aaj Pehli Baar *HD*" youtube!).

It was now Sunday night; Regina had moved to Emmett's place and had just got done setting up her room. She was going to be residing in upper room of the house and her boss will be staying downstairs. He had told her he had always stayed downstairs whenever he would spend time here and never thought about using any of the other rooms. There were total of five rooms in the house and they were plenty big and adjustable. When she was given a tour by one of the workers in the house, she had learned that one of the rooms downstairs was turned into a gym for Mr. Swan, which was close by to his own room. She had decided to occupy the middle room upstairs between the two other rooms around hers. There was one kitchen but she thought it might a problem for them use that kitchen at the same time but when she saw the kitchen she noticed it was quite big and open. The whole place was big and everything in it was big too. It almost reminded her of her own home in Storybrooke.

Belle had left an hour ago. She and Ruben had helped her out but there was not much that she had with her. So Belle ended up staying with her for few hours while Ruben and Emmett went out to somewhere. They talked about how things were going to be awkward for her again and how she would have to adjust to it and all. Regina then got them talking about the date Belle had with Ruben on Saturday. Belle then told her that Ruben had asked his grandmother to book the restaurant all to themselves for the night. To surprise her Ruben had decided to cook for them but Belle decided to help out. The whole place was decorated by beautiful lights and red roses and after their meal, Ruben had taken her to the rooftop where they laid on the ground under the blanket and just talked about each other or anything that came to their mind. And Regina could tell from the way her friend was reminiscing about the date with a wide smile on her face, that she had actually enjoyed her time spent with Ruben.

She hasn't seen Emmett since the time he had first left with Ruben and when he didn't come back when Ruben picked up Belle, Regina tried not to think about it. She went downstairs to see maybe he had come and she might have not noticed it. But when she was downstairs she noticed even the house staff members had gone as well and still no sign of her boss. As she was about to return to her room upstairs, she heard someone's footstep sounds coming from the entrance hallway. When she turned around she saw Emmett enter into the living room area. Then all of a sudden she went rigid at seeing him.

Emmett on the other hand still hadn't noticed Regina's presence in the living room. He took off his black vest and tie and opened few of the buttons on his purple shirt. He then put his vest and tie on the arm of the sofa and sat down, letting his body relax.

"Are you alright?" Regina asked as she came closer to the sofa.

Emmett not completely sure if he was hearing things from the rough day he had. He opened his eyes and saw Regina standing few feet away from him where he was sitting on the sofa. He moved his body forward and looked up at her.

"You….." sigh "Yea I am alright, thank you for your concern" then he got up and picked his clothes and started to walk away from her. Regina was about to do the same when she noticed him stop and turn around to face her again. They were both looking at each other now for the first time all day.

Regina couldn't help but look at the messy golden hair and those tired eyes that would close any minute now.

"I expect you to be on time tomorrow morning, the others will be here by 9 so…be prepared for the team tomorrow" he then nodded at her and turned around, started walking away again. When Emmett was out of sight, Regina went to her room as well. She was about to enter the room when her phone started ringing she ran to her table and picked her phone up and saw Katherine was calling her.

"Hey Kat"

"Regina….hey how are you doing over there?"

"I am good Kat….I guess" sigh

"Hey…are you feeling alright" Katherine asked with a soft voice.

"Yea..yea..i am…just thinking is all…don't worry Kat" she took a deep breath "I will be alright. So how was you day?"

"It was alright…you know work…work" Regina could feel that Katherine was now worried about her.

"Kat…I told you there's nothing to worried about…I am just nervous being here with…him"

"Regina…he if does anything to bother you and hurt you…you better let me know…I will deal with him my way" there was an edge to the way Katherine said the last words.

"Kat.. you are worrying way to much" Regina assured her.

"Alright…alright. So did the Nolan's came to visit?"

"No" was her immediate answer. "But I think they will or they can whenever they want to…this is their place afterall…"

"Hmm…yea you are right about that"

"So….was there anything else that was troubling you, Kat?"

"Regina…you are my friend, who is now living with a complete stranger who just happens to be your boss, but here you knew Belle and now me….of course I am going to be worried for you"

Regina knew it was tough on them to just let her go like that, if she was speaking truthfully she didn't want to leave them either but she had to. "Hey! Its not like I have gone to some far away land, I am still here in the same city as you guys….and I promise I will find any time I could to spend it with you two" Regina assured her again.

"Alright…good to know, now then my dear try to have a good night sleep" Katherine said before hanging up. Regina just smiled and put her phone back on the table.

She then turned the lights off and went to the bed to lie down. She covered herself with the comforter and closed her eyes to let sleep take over her.

When morning came, Regina was up three hours before the architect team was supposed to arrive. She freshened up and decided to dress up for her first official day working for Emmett. She decided to wear a short sleeve cool black and grey dress with black flats. When she presentable, she decided to go downstairs. When she reached the dining room, she saw that her boss wasn't there. She took a seat and asked of the maid that was putting breakfast on the table about Emmett's whereabouts. She learned that Emmett had asked for breakfast to be delivered to his room directly. _'I will be eating alone it looks like'_ Regina thought as she served herself with some scrambled eggs and bread.

After a while, Regina notices her boss coming out into the living area, she quickly finished her juice and cleaned herself up before rushing out towards Emmett.

Emmett stood in the middle of the area and looked up at the stairs leading to Regina's room. (He's wearing a black dress pant with half sleeve grey shirt with a black vest and black tie.) He then slightly shook his head. As he was about to walk go to other side of the mansion to his office, he felt someone was standing behind him, he turned his head a little to his behind and for sure Regina was standing behind him a few feet away.

"Good morning Mr. Swan" Regina said with a nervousness laced to her voice, trying not to stare too much at her boss and into his eyes again.

"Good morning" he then ran his hand threw his blonde locks and sighed. "Listen….you can not keep on coming behind me or in front of me like this, I would appreciate it if you would let me know of your presence whenever you are near"

"Yes Mr. Swan…I apologize…" Regina replied. Emmett then nodded at her and turned around and started walking out of the living area. Regina soon followed after him.

When they reached the office area of the mansion, Emmett went to his desk and chair and sat down. He opened up a drawer to his left and pulled out few files from it.

"Regina, I want you to make 6 copies of each of these two files…and make sure you don't mix up the pages. The team will here soon so I want these printed copies on those tables before they arrive in here" Emmett then picked up the files to hand it to Regina, who was now standing in front of his desk with a open mouth.

"Regina?!" Emmett called out again. When Regina came out of it, she looked at the irritated expression on her boss's face.

She quickly snatched the files out of his hands and walked away from him before she did something else to increase his irritation with her more. When she reached the other side of the room where the copying machine was, she quickly went to work on it. As she was doing this she couldn't help but look toward Emmett's desk and every time she took these glances at her boss, she would see him reading up on a file and sometimes writing something down on it. _'Having him call me Regina all of a sudden, really surprised me'_ she then took a deep breath. When she was finally done with the copying machines, she looked around to find a stapler, when she found one she quickly started sorting out the papers and stable them into two different piles.

She then looked up to check time on the clock and noticed that there was still an hour left. After several more minutes she was done sorting out he papers and stapling them. She checked them again to make sure she didn't accidently make any mistakes with the two stacks. She then started placing them on the desks.

"Regina..could you come here" came the call from Emmett. Regina put the finale paper down on the desk and started walking to her boss. Emmett was now standing behind his desk and leaning on top of the table, looking down at an architectural sketch design.

"Yes..sir" Emmett finally looks up from the design, when he hears Regina.

"I want you to join me during this meeting and not say or discuss any point or opinion you of it at all….and if anything important is to be noted then I will let you know and expect you to write down for me to see later"

"Yes of course" Regina replied back. "Is that all?" she asked then, when Emmett went back to looking at the design with concentration.

He brought his hand up and put it under his chin in a thinking manner. "Yes..thats all, Regina" he then said without looking at her. Regina then turned around went to her desk that was not too far from Emmett's desk. She sat on her chair and looked in front towards the entrance from where guests will be entering soon. But at the moment another thought was running around her mind since she entered this office hall. 'Why do I want to keep listening to the way he says my name?' was a question that was puzzling her now. 'This would have been much easier if he had kept on calling me "Miss Mills"?'

I will sometimes have them wear matching colored outfits...hope you guys don't mind.


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

When the others arrived, Regina was at easy to know that Elsa was with the team also. When all of them were standing in front Emmett's desk, he asked them all to take a seat on the desks in front of him. They all took their seats and went to open the files on the desks. Regina stayed close to Emmett's desk, standing by just in case he asked her for her assistance. She also had a notepad and a pen in her hand for whenever she would have to note down anything.

It fascinated Regina when Emmett started talking about the files and the project they were soon going to work on. She has never seen him so concentrated other than him just being angry with her every time they had their encounters. This was a new side Regina was viewing for the first time of her boss and she seemed to prefer it. They had been going at this for about half hour now, with only Emmett talking more and more and sometimes some of the members giving their inputs here and now. She was about to zone out again, when she noticed Emmett give her a glance and nod at her notepad. At first it took her by surprise when she thought he might have noticed her spacing out but at his indication she quickly started paying attention to what was being said so she could write it down.

"I believe this is all everyone but if you have any questions let me know right now" Emmett asked as he put down the files on the table behind him. During the meeting, he had gotten up and moved in front of his desk, close to his colleagues.

"Mr. Swan…if I may?" one of the members asked.

"Go ahead, Archie" Emmett responded.

"I just believe that with a project like this, it should be more about the people who are going to be residing there rather that making it appear to one of those other institution for them to be stuck in" Emmett didn't say anything immediately, he thought about what else there could be that he could different from the way he has been doing things for so long. It didn't upset him but rather got him thinking about it.

"So how do you suggest we should create these nursing homes differently?"

Before Archie could provide Emmett with his ideas, Regina beat him to it. "These nursing homes should make them feel at 'home', where they can be able to attach personalized materials to their surrounding as they did at their homes with their children and grandchildren, I think it would be more comfortable for them to stay in these homes if they were allowed to move around freely as they would in a regular home that way they would not feel disconnected with their loved ones and still maintain a mindset where they can come to believe these nursing homes are adequate to their living style" Regina didn't notice the death glares Emmett was sending her while she was in her mind talking out loud about how she believed making these nursing home with a different structure could provide more closer for the elderly. Before Emmett could yell at the girl, everyone around the table started to hum in agreement and talk among each other how the idea sounded way more interesting and not so dull, even Archie was applauding to his secretaries idea. Emmett couldn't help but hold in his thoughts and anger for now.

"Alright everyone, quiet down" when he got everyone's attention he continued speaking. "As I am seeing here, if the suggestion agrees to you all then by all means come to the next meeting with the new formats and designs, I expect best work to be presented next time…..if you will excuse I need to go…..I am sure my secretary will be of assistance for the next few hours" Emmett finished as he dismissed his colleagues and left them to the hands of his secretary. He didn't even glance at Regina and was out of the mansion office before Regina could comprehend what did she just do.

She was still staring after the door from where Emmett had left few minutes ago, and didn't seem to realize coming up to her side and put their hand on her bicep. Suddenly she looked to her right and noticed Elsa standing by her and smiling at her.

She tried to gather herself and said, "What! Why are you smiling like that?"

"hmm" Elsa continued smiling teasing her friend further. "Elsa! If you have something to say, just say it" Regina asked, getting impatient.

Elsa finally decided to cut her friend some slack and said, "Okay….what is with the matching colors, did you guys like discussed the night before or what?"

Regina couldn't help but be confused as to what she was talking about. "Matching colors? Elsa what are you talking about?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"Are you being serious right now?" Elsa asked with a dramatic gasp. Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes again at her. "Regina!...Did you seriously not notice the matching colors of your outfit and Mr. Swan's?" Elsa asked, shocked.

Regina thought about it but soon decided not to dwell on it. "I'm sure it was just a coincidence" Regina said dismissing her friends notion.

"Hmm...I'm sure it was.." Elsa said with a taunting voice.

"Lets just get back to work before the 'wicked monster' comes back" Regina requested.

"Wicked Monster?!" Elsa then laughed at the absurd name. "Did you really just refer to our boss as a 'wicked monster'?"

Regina then nodded, laughing a little along side with her friend at the name she choose for Emmett. "It suits him…" she then gave Elsa a sly smile.  
They both then joined others and began to discuss about the project.

After some few hours or so Emmett finally returned to his home office. When he walked in he didn't expect what was happening in front of him. Regina discussing about the project and going over the blueprints of the design and providing adjustments to it. It was becoming so hard for him to control his rage now, all he wanted to do was to go up there and yell at Regina in front of everyone but he decided that wouldn't be wise. As he was sorting out his emotions he couldn't help but feel mesmerized by Regina's voice and the way she was talking so passionately. He then realized he was so intoned to her like everyone else in the room. He quickly shook himself out of the trance and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. When everyone was facing him he walked to the where Regina was standing and noticed that even she had stopped talking.

Regina was about to explain when Emmett gestured with his hand to make her stop. He then turned his attention to his team. "So, do we have something already to work on?" he then asked, ignoring Regina who was now standing behind him.

"Nothing concrete yet sir….but I believe it will be a good idea to make Regina be a part of this project"

Emmett slightly shook his head and responded. "As you are all aware Regina is my secretary, it would wise that the next time you all remember that. Her only job here is as my secretary and nothing else" at his decision everyone went quiet. "As much I appreciate her opinions and ideas, I can not allow her to work on this project" when again no one said anything or agreed with him, it ticked off Emmett even more.

"If that is all then….you all are free to leave" he quickly dismissed them. Everyone got up and gave Regina a small smile; it didn't go unnoticed by their boss though. He then noticed Regina give them a smile back and she wave them bye.

When they were finally alone, Emmett looked at Regina, who couldn't find it in herself to look at him in the eyes but could feel him staring at her. To avoid it, she turned around and tried to walk back to her desk so she could busy herself with something else. Before she could take even a one step towards her desk, Emmett called out to her.

"Now wait a second" He then took a single step toward Regina whose back was now facing Emmett. Regina slowly turned around to face him also but didn't look up right away.

When she was finally looking at him, she again could see the anger in those same damn eyes. 'God!...Why does this keep happening over and over again?' Regina questioned to an unknown deity out there.

"You! How dare you?! You have no obligation to give your input when it comes to such projects. Not unless I require you to do so. Do we understand each other?" before Emmett even realized it himself he had gotten even more close to her and was towering over her by time he finished what he wanted to say. Regina tried to back away from him but ended up bumping into one of the corners of her desk as Emmett kept advancing towards her. Not being able to find support behind her, she felt herself fall. She quickly closed her eyes and waited for the floor's impact but it never came instead she felt a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pull her up and against a strong body. She then opened her eyes and was eye to eye with her boss's face, who now seemed even more irritated. She tried to get out of his grip on her waist but only managed to pull Emmett towards herself a little and make herself and him fall again. But Emmett seemed to bring her up again and now had both of his arms circled around her waist. Regina now having both of her hands on his chest, griping his vest with a strong grip.

"Will you stop moving?" Emmett asked, as he looked at her face first then down at where her hands were holding so tightly around his vest. They then both looked up from her hands and into each other's eyes. They both tried to not stare for too long but couldn't help but be hypnotized with each other's eyes. Regina relaxed her hands against his cheat but still kept a hold on it lightly. Emmett then let his arms fall from her waist, letting Regina stand properly on her feet.

'God….why do I only see pain in those brown eyes?' Emmett asked himself as he kept trying to find a reason behind it. He could see that her eyes were trying to read into his, he then again tried to put his arms around her waist but before that could happen, a phone rang and Regina quickly let go of him. She then quickly went to her desk and sat down on the chair and turned away from him. Emmett still in shock and confused a little, he then heard another ring and looked to his table and saw that it was phone that had intervened into whatever that just happened.

He then reached for his phone and picked it up and answered it. "Hello, Emmett Swan speaking…" he then toward Regina again, who still had the chair's back to him. He then took a deep breath and try to give his attention to the person on the other side of the call. 


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Regina was trying her best to calm down and try to make out any sense of what just happened between her and her boss just now. She could still feel the presence of his arms around her, but one thing she couldn't understand was the way he was looking at her. The way his eyes almost turned so soft, instead of seeing the angry flare in them. Again she started thinking about the moment, her heart started to beat really fast and again she was taking deep breaths to calm down.

'Okay Regina…calm down and act like nothing happened. Yes! You can do this' she thought and tried to affirm herself with her decision. She then finally turned around to face Emmett who was putting the phone down, and was now facing her again. She again couldn't help but keep staring at him but Emmett quickly turned away from her.

"Ruben and Belle will be here shortly, Ruben's going to bring over some files I want you to look them over and see if anything needs any alterations if not then I can sign them and you can send them back to the main office" He then walked away from her to towards the exist leaving Regina alone all by herself this time.

Regina then gave her attention to the computer on her desk, looking through companies email, sure enough there was email from Ruben she had forgot to open and check in the morning. 'I am sure he would have yelled at me for this if not for what just happened' her attention was taken away from her thought when she saw that she just received a new email. She opened it and noticed it was from Elsa, she had just sent her some rough drafts of the project they just talked about and along with a message of that if Emmett come to change his mind she would need this later on so to keep her in the loop for now. 'That was fast' hmm.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something important" Belle said with a smile as she came into the office hall.

Regina looked up and smiled a big smile at seeing her best friend. "Oh Belle…Hi…gosh I missed you" Regina then got up from her spot and walked toward her friend and hugged her. It was after few seconds Regina finally let of her friend.

When they were finally separate, Belle looked her friend with a concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yea I am okay Belle" Regina assured her, as they both went to an empty desk at the front and sat down.

"Alrigth…just letting you know you can tell me anything Regina…or Kat. We are both here for you" Belle said as she handed Regina the files she had gotten from Ruben.

"I know…" Regina said as she gave a small smile to her friend. "So…where's Ruben? I thought you were both coming here." Regina then asked, distracting her friend.

"Hmm….uh yea….well, Ruben and the boss both were talking outside but I think they planned on going somewhere" Belle said trying to dismiss talking about Ruben.

Regina tried not to dwell on the tone Belle used at the mention of Ruben. "Alright…I guess we both have something we don't want to share yet..huh" Regina confirmed. Belle only nodded at her.

They were both quiet not knowing how to approach on their concerns at the moment. Then Belle brought up something that immediately got Regina's attention and focus.

"Like you asked me, I did my research but didn't find anything about him. Not even anyone in the company knows about him" Regina had done her searching online, before moving with Emmett. She had discussed how she couldn't find anything related to Ruben Nolan online, no pictures, like he didn't exist. But she did learn that the Nolan's have three children, their eldest being Emmett, second being Ruben Nolan, and third being their daughter, Jasmine. There weren't any pictures of the other two children but Emmett Swan tends to be appeared on lots of business magazines.

"It could be they used his identity" Belle considered. "What if that's what they do? They could be career criminals who use other people's identity and deceive others into getting their money and properties, then sell it" Belle deduced her thoughts. Regina couldn't help but agree with the thought being true.

"But….how could that have fooled my mother so easily?" Regina questioned out.

Belle couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment. "Because she's greedy. She cares about nothing but money and reputation….and you know that" She then held up her hand put it on top of Regina's hand on the table. She gave it a squeeze and gave Regina a small smile, who had tears running down her face.

"Regina!" they both looked at the entrance door to notice that Emmett was standing there with a worried expression on his face, behind him Ruben stood dumbfounded. Emmett quickly ran past the other desks and reached at their table where now they had quickly gotten upon seeing him and were standing by.

Before Regina could wipe away her tears, she saw Emmett reaching to her face with his hand, and wipe away her tears with his fingers. It made her gasp which got Emmett out of his trance and stop; he then quickly took his hand away from her face. They then again looked at each other into each other's eyes, Regina with her teary-red brown eyes couldn't help but get lost in those green eyes, which now looked dejected looking at her.

Before Regina could ask or say anything, Emmett turned away from her and his back was now facing Regina. No one said anything, Ruben and Belle both were shocked at what just transpired, and they honestly didn't know what to make of it.

Emmett then cleared his throat and turned back towards Regina to face her. "I-uh-I'll be gone for a longer period so I want you to attend to the clients that will be arriving shortly and when I come back I expect full report on what was discussed and what decision they reached upon. Understood?" he then asked her with his usual commanding tone.

"Yes..sir" Regina answered back instantly. He at hearing her response went to his desk and got something and again existing out of the building. But not before asking Ruben to get Belle so they get moving.

Ruben then gave Belle a glance and nodded at her. Belle quickly gathered her stuff and gasped.

"Oh god how could I forget!" at Belle's statement, Regina broke off her stance and turned to look at her friend. She noticed Belle holding up a bag.

"Your lunch! I forgot to give it to you…I am sorry…"Belle said feeling guilty for forgetting something so important.

"It's alright Belle" she was glad her friend wasn't peppering her with questions at the moment and just smiled at her and hugged her. When they let go, Belle handed the food bag to Regina and looked at the entrance door.

She released a defeated sigh and looked at her friend with a pout. "I guess I have to leave you now….butttt" she then gave Regina a teasing smile "You are so telling me about what is going on with you and the boss" she asked a little excited and concerned at the same moment. Regina sat down on her spot and put the bag on the desk. She then grabbed her head with both her hands and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She then looked up at her friend and took a deep breath. "Belle…no just no….there is nothing going on" Regina said pleading her friend with her eyes not to ask her about it.

Belle closed her eyes for a second and opened them again. "Alright for now I'm letting it go" Belle said as she started to walk backwards toward the door.

When she reached the door she said her byes to Regina for now. "Take care of yourself, Regina"

Regina smiled at her. "Thank you Belle, you do the same" at that Belle existed out the room to go where Ruben was probably waiting for her.

After Belle had gone, Regina decided she should eat before the clients arrive. She was aware of them already coming, she had assumed that Emmett would at least know that she knew of the days schedule for her and him. She decided to not to think about anything else and just eat her food so she could have the energy to handle who ever was coming.

(Lets get back to StoryBrooke and see how things are….)

Since Regina had runway, the mills family had been tense and Cora was becoming more obsessive over finding about Regina's whereabouts. She was doing anything in her power to find any single clue about her daughter. When she learned that Graham had helped her, she was so close to wiping away his existence from the face of the earth but managed to control her fury in time. She decided to use this information to learn about Regina, she was sure Regina was contacting Graham and that was going to be her lead to her daughter. Over the course of this the distance between Henry and Cora get even more, they both spent most of their time in work. As for Zelena she and Gold didn't try to interfere in Cora's plans, they knew how obsessive she is over Regina. Zelena to avoid thinking of her sister or to see her mother keep going crazy over her decided to spend her time with her husband at the shop.

After some time and some more detailed research, Cora was able to discover more about the Nolan's and decided to contact her long time friend Katherine Grant for a long overdue favor.

"So what exactly does the mayor of a little town want from me?"

Cora looked at the women sitting in front of her, she was almost regretting calling her over.

"Well I think you mother probably have mentioned a little bit about why I might require your assistance" Cora said, as she looked straight at the blonde women in front of her, who nodded at her in agreement.

"So why the personal invitation to your town?" asked the blonde, letting her irritation show clear on her face.

"I assure you Miss Cat Grant…what I am about to ask of you to do…will bring great success to your Media Empire" Cora said with an amused tone. At that she had gotten Cat's full attention and she smiled to herself in victory.

"Now that I have your attention….lets work together to achieve our goals" Cora said as she help out her hand for a handshake, which Cat accepted without any question.

"So what is it that you want from me? I know you wanted me to hire one of my workers to go into the Nolan's company to investigate but I am still not sure for what exactly?" Cat asked.

"I am aware with your friendship with their eldest son….I want you to find out about his brother, Ruben Nolan. Along aside this, I want you to hire someone to look for my daughter in New York" Cora demanded with a stern edge to her voice that left no room for question.

But Cat wasn't like anyone else, she doesn't get scared or nervous easily. "I can sense that this is related to your daughter so if you really want me to do what you ask, I advise you not to hide anything from me because any little detail will be beneficial" Cat said as she stared at Cora with equal determination.

Cora then laughed a little, she could see how this women was capable of handling an empire all of her own, if only her daughter was wise enough to do her bidding she would have made her reach immense heights in life.

She then told Cat about what happened with their family and about Regina running away from home. Then her discovering about Graham who helped Regina escape, so now her only issue was where in New York was her daughter.

Cat was taking in everything that was told to her, but she felt that Cora was leaving out some other important factors of the story which she thought she will find about in her own way if her client wasn't willing to share.


	38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

"How did it go?" someone asked as Cat came out of the Storybrooke mayor's office. Cat looked at the girl in front of her and sighed.

"Lets just go Keira" Cat said as she walked past the secretary on the front and waited for Kara to follow her out of the building.

When they were both outside, Cat started to walk toward to somewhere, leaving Kara behind her.

"Where are you going….Ms Grant?" Kara asked as she jogged up to Cat to walk alongside her. At the question, Cat stopped and turned to Kara, she pointed to the little café in front of her.

"I just wanted some coffee" Cat admitted. Kara then looked to where Cat had pointed and looked at her boss again.

"I am capable of fetching you coffee…..so please get in the car, I will be there with your coffee shortly Miss Grant" Kara said she started to walk past Cat.

"No…wait a minute…why do you keep calling me 'Ms Grant'? I told you when we are alone you should call me by my name " Cat said to Kara who still had her back facing Cat. Kara then turned around and faced Cat.

"Well….why don't you apply the same rules to yourself then!" Kara blurted out, avoiding eye contact with Cat.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Cat asked as she walked up to Kara. "Look at me…Kara" Cat demanded with an edge to her voice. Kara then looked at her boss and sighed.

"We are not in national city right now…and no one knows us HERE so why couldn't you call me by my correct name in there" Kara asked with a defeated voice as she pointed toward the building they just existed out from.

"Is this what this is about?" Cat asked more like demanded. "God…Kara…you are a super alien, why are you acting so childish?" When Cat didn't get any answer from her. She released a deep breath and started walking to the car instead. "You know what Kara….just forget about the damn coffee and lets just go" She didn't wait for Kara's reply and reached her car and sat inside. Kara was still standing where Cat left her.

"Rao…I messed up again" Kara said as she speed walked to the café and got the coffee Cat wanted and quickly returned to the car and sat alongside Cat, who was waiting for her but didn't look at her.

She tried to reach for her hand but stopped, so instead she held the steamy hot coffee in front of Cat. Cat looked at the hand offering her coffee and let out a huff.

She took the coffee from Kara and took a sip. "Thank you" She then looked at her assistant. "….Kara"

Cat then saw Kara take off her glasses and look into her eyes, those deep blue eyes pleading with her.

"Cat….I am sorry if you are bothered with the way I was behaving but you know when we get these moments alone….i want it to not feel like we have to we professional then too….i don't know lets just forget about it" Kara tried to abandon the topic.

All Cat did was look at her and sighed, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere if she said something now or happened to say something rude again, so she decided to let it go for now and will talk to Kara about it later.

(Back to Regina…)

She had finished her lunch and afterward she decided to type up the report for this morning meetings. When she was done, the next party had arrived and she got herself engaged in what was being talked about around the tables. She knew some of the members from this team also, thanks to Elsa, but there was one other person she had not met during her week at the main office building. She then came to know that his name was Daniel Colter, he had asked for her help during the discussions. She was happy to know she could be of any help because she was still learning a lot about the company's way of doing things and how to handle the basic things for every department. The meeting ended up taking the whole afternoon, after they had also left she was alone again, she had expected that Emmett would have been back by now since his meeting with the other company's client had ended an hour or so ago. She decided not to dwell on it, they had covered the meetings so far so all there was left to do was to go over the files with Emmett and have them signed and ready to take in effect. She was done with her first day and now all that was left to do was wait for her boss to return.

After Ruben had dropped off Belle back at the main office, Emmett and him both went to meet one of their clients again. After the meeting, which took quiet some time then it should have, ended. They both headed to Emmett's parents mansion, the older Nolan's requested their presence. When they got there both could sense something was wrong. But soon they learned that from Emmett's parents that Cat Grant, the National City's media mogul had contacted them to ask them about Ruben. Cat had known Mary and David since their college time, they tried to keep in touch afterwards but all three of them got busy chasing after their dreams and working towards it, now they all were managing successful businesses. So when Cat contacted them after many years, it was strange to learn the main purpose of the conversation was their younger son.

"What could Cat Grant want from Ruben?" Emmett questioned out loud as he entered the home office. Ruben had left to the office an hour ago and Emmett had decided to stay and talk some more with his parents. Once he was inside he saw no one at first, then looked to Regina's desk, at what he saw he didn't know how to react, he darted across the room and when he reached her desk his features softened at the display in front of him. Regina was sitting up and leaning back on the chair, sleeping soundly with her head titled to one side. Emmett was in awe, at her simple beauty, he couldn't take his eyes off her face. He then noticed a strand of hair over her eye; he quickly brought up his hand but slowed down before reaching her face to remove the strand of hair. He then took a few steps away from her, but couldn't move his eyes away from her sleeping face, he felt as if he could stare at her beauty for as long as he could. He forced himself to look away and try to concentrate on something else. As he was looking around his sight landed on the folder on Regina's desk, he picked it and opened it to see the reports for both of the today's discussions. He then went to his desk and sat down, he put the folder in front of him and as he was reading over it he was impressed with all details it included, he then looked over to the said person, who was still sound asleep.

"I was not planning on sleeping in here….what should I do? Should I yell to make her get up?" Emmett gain questioned himself second time today, as he leaned back into his chair and sighed.

"Alright!" he said as he got up and moved to her desk again, stood by the chair this time, looking down at her. "Regina!" he said in his normal tone, it received no response.

He then took a breath and yelled "REGINA!" at that Regina quickly opened her eyes and stood up as if on autopilot, and lost her balance. Emmett at noticing this quickly took action by grabbing her arm and pulling her up on her feet. They were again face-to-face but not close like before and Emmett still had his hold on her arm. Again no words were being spoken, as they continued to look into each other eyes. Emmett let go of her arm and averted his eyes away not wanting to have a repeat.

"I-am…" Regina began to speak but Emmett cut her off before she could finish what she was trying to say.

"Save it! Lets just go" he said as he walked off to the door. Regina stood there for a second then gathered her things quickly and walked after her boss. When they reached the other part of the mansion, where their rooms were. They noticed that the staff was gone for the night. They were both standing in the middle of the living area, besides each other trying to not make eye contact or look at the other.

"I already ate at my parents mansions, I hope you didn't forget to eat dinner!?" he tried to question, hoping she didn't just wait for him all afternoon and evening without eating any dinner.

"Ah…the staff had actually brought me dinner at the office,….I had actually forgotten" she had whispered the last part, but Emmett was able to hear it form their close proximity even though they were avoiding to look at each other.

"Alright….good night" he then started walking to his room. Regina said 'good night' back which she wasn't sure was heard by her boss or not. She then went up the stairs to her room.

For the next three weeks they had gotten into a routine of getting up early and having breakfast on the same table, they slowly got used each other's presence and would have small talks here now but nothing deep. Regina then would have everything set up and ready for Emmett to work on, she quickly learned to manage the teams and organize the materials needed for them all, you can say she was getting the hang of everything around the office that meant Emmett had less chances of yelling at her. Emmett had slowly started to spend more time at the office to work closely with the company's four teams members. Regina had gotten to known about them all as well by working closing with them and helping them whenever she could. But one member from the graphics team had developed a quite an interest in Regina. Daniel would try to get Regina engaged in the designs as much he could, asking for her opinion and complimenting her ideas, this was not going unnoticed by Emmett, who was getting bothered by their bonding, to another individual it might look that they were better acquainted but to Emmett he couldn't help but feel bothered by it but he knew he couldn't do anything about it either which was making things for him even worse, he didn't know why he was feeling this way. When he shared the incidents with Ruben, he had told him he was getting jealous or might be developing feelings for his secretary, at the conclusion Emmett couldn't help but feel horrified at which Ruben couldn't help but laugh at his friend.

He then decided not to pay much attention to Regina but he couldn't help but have his wandering eyes always land on her since she was always wherever he would be, he was really regretting not fighting his parents harder for hiring Regina. What he didn't know was that Regina could always feel whenever he was looking at her direction, at first she discarded it as her boss trying to supervise her but then she slowly started to notice the difference in his behavior whenever she would work along with Daniel, she didn't know what to make of her boss's reaction to what she considered was just a friendship. She also shared it with her friends when she visited them during one Sunday. Belle and Katherine both saw it as a good sign, they told her at least he wasn't giving her the angry glares or finding reasons to yell at her. Regina still thought there was something more to it but decided to go along with her friend's reasoning. Regina confronted Belle about their last meeting and about her behavior toward Ruben. Belle then disclosed the fact about how she had learned about Ruben and Elsa having thing in the past, she had already told Katherine. She then told Regina how they talked about it and cleared all the misunderstandings away and now they were back to doing good, they had actually gone to few more dates nothing drastic.

All this had transpired a week earlier, now both Emmett and Regina had gotten done with another workday and were sitting on the dining tables, eating dinner together. They had started doing this after a week of Regina's arrival to the small mansion. At first they would quietly sit and eat and then say good night to each other and leave, but slowly it was Emmett, who would started talking about the next days schedule or anything related to the company and Regina would try to engage in the conversations as mush as could but she also couldn't help but feel exhausted with the same routine of the conversations every night. Emmett at notice her mood started talking less about the business and would try to engage in conversation in that could make her feel more excited or at least talkative. Their dinner talks soon turned into sharing childhood memories or anything random in particular to keep the mood comfortable. Because of this they slowly started to learn more about each other. For now they were content with the way things were going, it was turning out to be surprisingly well for them, at the office they worked like a team and outside it they managed to be civil with each other but their moments of closeness had started to increase as they started to get along better now, they both decided to ignore those short moments of hesitance and fluttering feelings and concentrate on what was important.

Forgive me for the late update!


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